Concrete Trees and Quiet Alcoves

Across the Abbey Plaza,

where Breuer’s Banner stands,

his sixth campus design: a library

where learning and tradition shake hands.

Named Alcuin for our beloved Abbot Deutsch

and the famed scholar of York,

it stands rooted, steeped in history—

a common refuge for study and work.

Abbot Baldwin set aside this sacred place,

“planned and designed with great care…

second only in importance to the Church…

a lasting memorial,” now ours to share.

Scholars and students from around the world,

and neighbors from just down the road,

encounter here a Benedictine way

revealed within quiet alcoves.

Here, the stacks are more than shelves

that hold ranks of scholarly tomes:

they are cathedrals of paper, parchment and board,

with aisles where heart and mind may roam.

Leather-bound treasures, bearing Wisdom and Word,

dwell beneath branches of concrete trees;

each page is held fast with thoughtful care,

and each visitor is given room to breathe.

So enter in, and linger here

in this essential Benedictine space:

get a drink, wander and do “library things”—

finding a book, just in case.