When you are moving to Santa Cruz from Boston, banana slugs come up a lot, so I decided to research them. The Pacific banana slug, Ariolimax columbianus, can grow to over 9″ long and is found on the Pacific coast from Alaska to California. It has a symbiotic relationship with redwoods, refusing to eat their seeds while consuming those of redwood competitors. By shape and color, it reminds humans of one of our favorite fruits. It is also the mascot of UC Santa Cruz. No wonder a friend at the Armory Pub Sing chose a “Banana Slug” song as a sendoff for us.
Meanwhile, as a nomadic person, I’ve been spending time in public libraries. The main libraries in both Brookline and Lexington, my main daytime locations last week and this week, are massive stone buildings with both grace and gravitas, packed with useful resources, helpful staff, excellent Wifi, and quiet working nooks. There are also books. I sought a book to take to camp next week, and while it was not available in Lexington, the librarian found it at the Bedford library. With its portico of columns topped by a pediment, that library may have the grandest structure of the three, and certainly was comparable in every other respect.
Having this 3-for-3 experience of libraries in such a short time period led me to research that topic, and I found that public libraries (as opposed to research libraries or subscription libraries) are indigenous to Massachusetts in North America. That is to say, the public library is to Massachusetts as the banana slug is to California. It tends to be larger here than elsewhere, has a symbiotic relationship with the community, and is visually appealing.
I feel confident that many Massachusettsians would be comfortable with the library as a symbol, because it speaks to a people both knowledgeable and knowledge-seeking. I suspect many Californians might be comfortable with the banana slug as a symbol–it protects the environment and is strikingly styled–but I still have a lot of research to do in the field before reaching a conclusion.
Culminating Triad 
Do you know any good songs about public libraries?
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As the singer of the Banana Slug song for Jo and Bill, I do, in fact, know several songs about public libraries. Here is one I composed for the Friends of the East Boston Library on the occasion of the unveiling of a newly restored 1930s mural of Ships Through The Ages. Now I have this image of a giant banana slug breaching like a Great Yellow Whale among painted brigs and schooners. See what you’ve done, Jo? Your writing is powerful stuff.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IMTrZXDyJGjQFLRYmIJfLGMnBt1oC003LXIHBWwFx-E
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The Library Song
by Fred Hertz and Joel Herron
Oh, the place for you and the place for me is the local public library
They have books and things they lend for free, it’s the latest, it’s the greatest, it’s the library
They have histories, they have mysteries, and for mother books of recipes
See a movie show, hear a symphony, it’s the latest, it’s the greatest, it’s the library
Educational, informational, entertainment that’s sensational
It’s a way of life, it’s for you and me
It’s the latest, it’s the greatest, it’s the library
[This is from 1967; hence the comment about recipes for mother. Apparently, fathers didn’t cook in the Sixties.]
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Thank you, clobeca! I’m intrigued by the reference to seeing “a movie show” in 1967. Obviously that was before Betamax, so what format were they lending, I wonder?
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Hi, Jane. Sorry it took so long to reply. In the days before Betamax and VHS, public libraries actually lent out 16mm films and projectors. I remember going to a friend’s party in high school where she showed us the 1962 French film La Jetée and the 1968 short De Düva, a parody of Bergman’s The Seventh Seal featuring a very young Madeline Kahn.
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Jo Ellen, we Massachusettsians (and New Hampshirites) will miss you so much – your wide-ranging curiosity, your thoughtfulness, your sense of adventure, your friendship over the years and life changes. Thank you for taking the time and the energy at this insanely busy time in your life to write this blog so that we that care about you and Bill can keep up with what is going on with your move to Santa Cruz and your new life there. There is a lot more to New England than the libraries and a lot more to California than banana slugs and I know that you will be exploring all of it!!!
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Um, I will have to disagree with you about the importance of the banana slug to California. It’s more like Plum Island or maybe Brookline. The slug is really a Santa Cruz-only thing. Massachusetts punches above its weight, but California is just plain the biggest state (population-wise) by a lot, and there are many different parts to it, so it’s hard to come up with a single symbol. But you have time….
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The banana slug has been the California state mollusk since at least the early 1990s; but yes, even population aside, a state that takes up about 2/3 of the west coast of the lower 48 must have sufficient environmental diversity to deserve more than just a slug, however magnificent the banana slug may be.
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Brava, Jo Gent! This blogspiel may be your calling. I most enjoyed the slugs & libraries.
Kenneth Russell
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