Niyah Goco

Mrs.Mckiddy

Period 5

A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs.Long Essay

“A poem for my librarian, Mrs.Long,” by Nikki Giovanni, shows people that the world is

not of our control, but we can change our perspective and make our own world a better place. In

this poem, the narrator does not have enough money to buy the fascinating books she wants.

She lives in a time where african americans had many struggles. Mrs. Long, the neighborhood’s

librarian, offers the narrator the books she desires. Mrs.Long receives humiliation and

judgement for going to the white library asking for books. The narrator is thankful for the books

and it gives her comfort, she later realizes the situation Mrs.Long was put through and

acknowledges her selflessness through this poem.

When the narrator was young, she listened to smooth jazz and her favorite artists, like

Nat King Cole and June Christy, on radio for comfort. Listening to their music helps distract her

from her struggles and society. But music was not enough. It didn’t not take her away. To the

narrator it was “just music” as said on line 16. The wonderful books Mrs.Long would bring to The

narrator opened up a new world, an escape. The narrator says that she would sit on her front

porch and dream of a world, far away.

Mrs.Long is a kindhearted and generous person. She puts others before her despite her

own outcome. A result of retrieving books for the narrator was being looked down upon by the

white folks in the library asking for books. But Mrs.Long humbled herself and continued to help

the narrator. This explanation is shown on lines 32 and 33, “Whites like to humiliate blacks/ But

she nonetheless brought the books.” The happiness books brought to the narrator is what kept
Mrs.Long going. Mrs.Long knows the struggles of being an african american at this time (being

humiliated for example) and wanted to provide the narrator something that would push her

through her struggles.

Books showed the narrator not be ashamed or scared of the world she lives in. The last

two lines “And Mrs.Long opened that wardrobe; But no lions or witches scared me” reveals that

the narrator understands the disgrace the world may give her (like Mrs.Long) and she is not

afraid, she is in acceptance.