“TERSE VERSE FOR LELAND, RETIRING FROM THE E.H. LITTLE LIBRARY, DAVIDSON COLLEGE”
We bid adieu
With thanks to you
For making Little big.
Your tenure’s been
To now from then
A grand and noble gig.
You said, “I read,
Therefore I need
[Apologies Descartes]
A lot more cash
For books to stash
If we’re to stand apart.”
Your firm belief,
As Little’s chief:
The book is learning’s heart.
O Leland Park,
You’ve left your mark
By making Little large.
That all should read,
That was your creed.
And your director’s charge:
If they erase
Books’ central place,
Circumference won’t enlarge.
Your stacks expand.
Six hundred grand,
Plus lots of other perks,
Like maps and scores
And data doors
And, as for tools, “RefWorks.”
As Little’s czar
You set the bar
As high as Chambers’ dome,
And thus you made
An A plus grade:
Tome after tome and tome.
We you salute
For your repute.
Now Little’s number one.
You filled the stacks––
Few gaps or cracks––
We say, O Park, well done!
Now your car’s Parked
And you’ve embarked
On your retirement years,
We quaff a stein
With thumbs up sign––
Hip, hip, hooray. Three cheers.
––Bob Denham ’61 
