2006-05-14 - 5:41 p.m.
I was telling this story to Nya the other day and I thought I should record it here. You may find it amusing. This happened probably in like 1990 or 1991 at the Kings Bay branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, around the corner from me in Sheepshead Bay. I don�t remember what I was doing there that evening. I may have been writing a paper or I may have just wanted to get out of my house, which I wanted to do more and more as high school went on.
I was reading in the front room when a bunch of thuggishly-dressed black kids came in, perhaps from the nearby Nostrand Houses projects (I don�t think I knew them; I actually didn�t know many people in my neighborhood). They had apparently figured out that the library subscribed to a lot of magazines which you could sit and read for free. Some of these were hot rod/sports car periodicals. They scooped all these out of the magazine racks and sat down with them at the next table.
The elderly library security guard became visibly agitated. Possibly like many older people from the area, he considered any younger black kids to be inevitable trouble. He nervously paced up and down around our tables, eying them suspiciously. But aside from occasionally telling them to shush, there wasn�t much he could do. They weren�t breaking any rules; reading (even just hot rod magazines) is what the library was for. He puttered away after a bit.
Then another group came in. It seemed they both knew each other and were friends. Everyone respected the quiet of the library, but there were a lot of eyebrows raised in surprise and recognition. Fingers were pointed, handshakes exchanged, �wassup�s muttered. The newcomers also took some magazines and sat down to read. Now there were twenty or so of them surrounding a large table, flipping pages. The security guard was quite uneasy.
�Yo,� a kid from the original group murmured to one of the new arrivals. �I can�t believe you guys are here! Man, tonight�s like Hoods� Night at the library.�
The second kid thought about this for a moment. �Yeah,� he whispered back. �But we�s educated hoods.�
� 2006 Geoff Gladstone
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