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Father Raymond Roseliep ’39 was an award-winning haikuist who taught at Loras from 1946 to 1966. Widely published and recognized as a master of traditional English verse forms, Roseliep began experimenting with haiku in 1960 and published eleven collections of haiku between 1976 and his death in 1983. Roseliep won the Harold G. Henderson Award from the Haiku Society of America in 1977 and 1982, and the Shugyo Takaha Award (grand prize) from the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society of the United States and Canada in 1980. Sailing Bones earned him first place in the Merit Book Awards from the Haiku Society of America in 1981.

campfire extinguished,
the woman washing dishes
in a pan of stars
     -Raymond Roseliep (from Listen to Light, p. 62)

Haiku poetry is a form of poetry originating in Japan. The traditional form has three lines that consist of 17 syllables in a 5/7/5 pattern. However, as it has evolved from its 16th-century beginnings, poets have routinely broken those rules while focusing on its main tenants: focus on a brief moment in time; use of provocative, colorful images; ability to be read in one breath; a sense of sudden enlightenment.

fish hawk on white pine

by water: man with pencil

    waiting for the word
               -Raymond Roseliep (from Flute Over Walden, p. 11)

Roseliep was a voracious reader and letter writer and when he died in 1983, he donated his library and correspondence to the Library. Copies of all of his poetry books are available for check out and are located on the 3rd floor of the Library. You can learn more about him at https://library.loras.edu/special/roseliep. Contact Heidi Pettitt to see his personal library collection.

"The Morning Glory"

    takes in  
    the world
    from the heart out

    funnels
    our day
    into itself

    closes
    on its own
    inner light

-Raymond Roseliep (New York City buses, 1981)

Walk outside, take a deep breath of fresh air, look around at the trees, hear the birds twitter. Will you be able to do this in twenty years? Fifty? One-Hundred? Inspired by the passion of the anti-war protests and growing public awareness of air and water pollution in the late 1960s, Senator Gaylord Nelson helped create a national event to raise awareness of the need to protect Earth's natural resources for future generations – Earth Day.

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 and initially was intended to be a teach-in focused on the importance of environmental conservation. However, it grew well beyond this and over 20 million people participated. The event spurred Congress to pass the Clean Air Act (1970) and the Endangered Species Act (1973).  In the following years organizers have made Earth Day a global event.

This year’s annual celebration will focus on investing in our planet. How can you do this? What every person does, and how we do it has a ripple effect on our communities, our countries, and our planet. Unless we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, businesses won’t either. Turn off your lights when you are not in the room. Avoid single use consumer goods like plastic water bottles and grocery bags. Walk or bike instead of driving. The Library of Things has bike racks, helmets, pumps, and locks available to check out in order to go on a bike ride safely.

We can all do more to be more conscious about what we buy, and where we buy it from. Buying less will save you money, reduce waste and improve your environmental footprint. Choose local and sustainably sourced food, like that from the Dubuque farmers’ market. Use your purchasing power to make sure your money is going toward positive change. By supporting eco-friendly products which are less damaging to the environment, you are encouraging companies to source and produce their products in a sustainable way. Make your voice heard. Vote for change in corporations and within the government to pass sustainability policies and laws. Spread the message: #Invest in Our Planet.

You can learn more about the 2022 Earth Day celebration and ways to help our planet at https://www.earthday.org/. Want to share Earth Day with the young readers in your life? See our book display on the Library’s first floor.

National Poetry month was established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to remind “the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters.” In the years that have followed it has become the largest literacy celebration in the world.

Poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature, with some scholars suggesting it might even predate human written language. The earliest poems likely were associate with religious rituals, and some aspects of this remain as poems continue to be read during contemporary rituals such as weddings, funerals, and even presidential inaugurations. But early poetry was also associated with history and storytelling, as seen in epic poetry such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the ancient Indian Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Ancient Greek Odyssey and Iliad, Virgil's Aeneid, and the Old English Beowulf.

Definitions of poetry vary but they often include mention of rhythm and meter, imagery and aesthetics, as well as feelings and emotion. Some argue, however, that poetry is beyond simple definition. Argentine poet, essayist, and short story writer, Jorge Luis Borges believed that “poetry is something that cannot be defined without oversimplifying it.  It would be like attempting to define the color yellow, love, the fall of leaves in autumn.”

No matter how you define poetry, we invite you to celebrate National Poetry Month with us. Sign up for Poem-a-Day from the Academy of American Poets or choose some of their other 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month. Create a book spine poem, by stacking books together so that the titles form the lines of your poem, and we will add it to our display on the main floor. Express your creativity with a magnetic poem on the whiteboard near the library entrance.  Happy National Poetry Month! 

In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution establishing April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day “in order to raise public awareness of autism.” Each year observance of the day is guided by a theme; 2022 focuses on Inclusive Quality Education for All. The UN is sponsoring a virtual program around this theme in which you can participate on Friday, 8 April, 9 am CDT.

In many areas this single day has turned into Autism Awareness Month. A slogan to commemorate awareness “Light it up Blue," was made popular by the organization Autism Speaks, and calls for wearing blue, changing lighting to blue, and wearing blue ribbons. However, Autism Speaks has been criticized by autism advocates for stigmatizing autistic people, its lack of representation, and for its fiscal practices. Some counter-campaigns that autistic people have initiated include "Tone It Down Taupe" and "Red Instead." Others also advocate for moving beyond these small gestures and participating in real action.

One way to do this is to shift the focus of these commemorations from awareness to acceptance. As the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network asserts autism is not a problem to be dealt with but rather autistic people “deserve welcoming communities, inclusive schools and workplaces, and equal opportunities.” This is more than just a name change to Autism Acceptance Month but a call to bring about acceptance.

In fact, this trend is part of a greater autistic acceptance movement that emphasizes neurodiversity, the idea the autism spectrum is not a disease to be cured but simply natural variations of the human brain. The advocacy group Autistics for Autistics describes it this way: "Neurodiversity means that –like biodiversity– all of us have a role to play in society . . . and we should be valued for who we are. Included in public life, such as school and employment. For nonverbal autistics, this also means equal and fair access to communication, such as AAC [augmentative and alternative communication devices]."

To learn more about autism and read the first-hand accounts of individuals with autism, check out our book display on the Library’s fourth floor.