Wendi Rank – April 2026
I have discovered something amazing.
But first, we need to talk about how I got there.
I needed a book. Not just any book. A book on medieval Welsh poetry. OK. I needed two books on medieval Welsh poetry. Yeah.
It’s a long story. What I’d like to say is that poetry is not my favorite reading material, and I know nothing about Wales except that “ap” in a last name means “son of.” And I only discovered that by accident. That’s it. That’s all I know.
Oh. And that Wales is part of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, which are two different things. And I only know that because I read a romance novel once about evil faeries taking over Dublin. Which could totally happen. But back to medieval Welsh poetry.
My local library system didn’t have either book. Nor did the library system in the next county. I could buy the books used online but, well, I don’t like poetry. These books are not keepers. Evil faeries taking over Dublin? Yeah. Keepers for sure. Bought the whole series. I checked the Pennsylvania Power Library. Wait – you don’t know about the Pennsylvania Power Library? Listen. It’s called Power for a reason. Pick a book. Any book. Pop it into the search box on the Power Library website. If it’s in a Pennsylvania library, and that library is in the Power Library like Wonder Woman is in the Justice League, your home library can order that book, have it delivered to them, and contact you to pick it up. I know. It’s amazing. It’s almost as cool as evil faeries.
Wait. What am I talking about? Nothing is as cool as evil faeries. Even though it’s mostly cool, the Power Library did not have either of my Welsh poetry books. If I were a cartoon, a scribbled storm cloud would have festered above my head. Then a thought occurred to me.
Maybe my alma mater held the books I needed. Maybe they could loan me the books. Unless, you know, students there were clamoring for medieval Welsh poetry. In exploring the website of my alma mater’s library, I discovered former students could check out books. Um, what?
I have been an alumnus for this long and didn’t know that? Shouldn’t that information have been printed on my diploma or something? Unfortunately, my university did not have the books I needed. But now I was really thinking. If my university loans to alumni – and, according to their website, the local community – what wonders awaited at my local community college? I don’t know. So I checked. And here is what I discovered.
Both Montgomery County and Bucks County Community Colleges loan books to their respective county residents. Wait. It gets better.
They have movies! Movies and magazines and books. Right there. All you have to do is ask. Well, ask and get a library card. Oh, they also have books of medieval Welsh poetry. With great hesitation, I approached the library desk at the community college. I asked if what I read online was true.
“Yep,” the student staffing desk said. “I just need your I.D.” My friend, how much identification do you need? I have brought it all. Driver’s license. Passport. Birth certificate. My mom, to vouch for me. So there you have it. This incredible thing I discovered. Go get your evil faeries books. Because I’ve taken all the Welsh poetry. è
Contact Wendi Rank on Instagram @wendirank
