News & Reviews

WORD: Authors Kerouac, Divakaruni buoy interest in Bay Area libraries

As library use across America ebbs due to the Internet’s easy-access research, Bay Area libraries are bringing in the big guns to raise public interest and foot traffic. In San Francisco, you can see the original scrolls of Jack Kerouac’s One The Road while across the bay, Oakland has become the latest One City, One Book program participant.

The San Francisco Public Library has thirty-six feet of Kerouac’s original On The Road manuscript on exhibit through March 19, the library announced. Kerouac wrote the novel in a 20-day stretch in New York City in 1951 employing "spontaneous prose," a nonstop, unedited style inspired by letters from his friend Neal Cassady.

In a day before computers made writing nonstop easy, Kerouac taped together a 120-foot long scroll and banged out his single-spaced prose without interruption. Also on display is an overview of Kerouac’s life and other works, as well as a history of the Beat movement and Beats in San Francisco, told through photos and books.

The library also has two Kerouac-related events on tap through March. On Thursday, February 9, Brenda Knight, author of Women of the Beat Generation discusses the lives and times of the Beats with Eileen Kaufman, Mary Norbert Korte, Jamie Cassady and Joanna McClure. Author Ruth Weiss will read poetry accompanied with jazz from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. The event happens at the Main Library’s Lower Level in the Koret Auditorium, located at 100 Larkin Street.

On Tuesday, March 14, The Beat Generation in San Francisco author Bill Morgan will provide a virtual "walking tour" of the Beat homes and haunts in San Francisco. Co-sponsored by City Lights Books, the event runs from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the library.

Across the bay, The Oakland Public Library said it joined the popular One City, One Book program that’s been a hit in bigger cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York. One City, One Book tries to unify city residents around literature by having everyone read the same book.

The Oakland Public Library’s choice for February is the novel Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banjerjee Divakaruni. Underscoring the library’s enthusiasm for the new program, it scheduled a free public lecture and book signing with Divakaruni on Friday, February 10, beginning at 7:30 pm at the Oakland Museum of California’s James Moore Theatre.

The free event -- which is preceded by a $50-per-ticket benefit reception and silent auction from 5:30-7:00 pm that has spoken word and music performers -- happens at 10th & Oak Streets in Oakland.

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