Oh yeah, vote this!

As I'm sure you're all well aware of by now, tomorrow is election day. (And if you aren't aware, then I have to ask where the heck you've been!)

I am not going to endorse any candidate in my blog. (For one, I'm not allowed to...) Or tell you what issues are important. But I am going to encourage all of you to get out and vote.

"Why vote?" "Who cares?" "I don't like either of the candidates"...I have heard these statements so much over the last few months. These statements not only annoy me, they actually kind of infuriate me. You should care. And you should vote. Period. We have a system in this country that allows us the opportunity to elect our officials. We have a system that allows us to choose. These are extraordinary rights we have in this country. Ones that are guaranteed. There are hundreds, if not thousands of places in the world where people actually die attempting to do something that we are guaranteed.

Further more, it is important to remember all of the people in this country, whom years ago, fought so that we could all have the right to vote. In 1870, African Americans got the right to vote, in 1920 it was women who got the vote, in 1940 it was Native Americans, and in 1971 it was all of us 18 and older. These groups made sacrifices to allow us this right. It's important not to forget that.

Again, as I stated before, I will not tell you who to vote for, or what issues to care about. I have my positions on both of them, but will keep them to myself. But I will tell you to get out and vote, it's one of the most important duties as citizens we have.

I've cast my vote already...now it's your turn!

Just another manic Monday...

We are experiencing some technical difficulties today. They moved our server back to Cedar Rapids from Marion yesterday and now it doesn't want to work again... *grrr face* Our poor tech guys are probably ready to explode!

So...this means that we will not be able to access our database. We cannot access your account, we cannot check anything in, we cannot pay off your fines. Basically...we can't do squat. I'm totally convinced that once we actually do have the system up and running we're not going to know what to do. Seriously!!

In the meantime, sorry for the inconvenience and hopefully we'll be back up and running very soon!

Happy Birthday Paddington Bear!

Paddington Bear is 50 years old!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As I'm sure you're all aware October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This is a very important issue to me, and one that is very dear to my heart. For one, my mother and my aunt are both breast cancer survivors. Two, I am a firm believer in affordable and accessible health care for women. This is a disease that knows no boundaries when it comes to women. But it is one that is slowly becoming more and more treatable with advancing technologies.

This weekend thousands of women will be hitting the streets of Cedar Rapids for the 18th Annual Especially For You Women's Race Against Breast Cancer. The proceeds from this race have gone to help 4,308 uninsured or underinsured women receive more than $1 million in breast-care services. The best part about this race? All the money stays local. It all goes to help women in the area.

This weekend I'll be one of the thousands of women hitting the streets of Cedar Rapids in support of affordable local breast-care services...will you?

It's heeeere!

HAPPY BANNED BOOKS WEEK!!

And just remember:

"A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone." ~Jo Godwin

So many reasons to celebrate...and whine...

So here we go...

We are currently celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month here at the library. Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15th, which is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico declared its independence on September 16th, with Chile following on September 18th. The celebration continues through October 15th. I have put a display up in the library to celebrate, come on in and check it out!

And of course there's Banned Books Week coming up! (Like I'd let you forget...) As you already know, we have the censorship exhibit up from the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship. It really is an interesting exhibit, so please do come in and check it out. We will also be having an adult reading program that will be coinciding with this week called, "Elect to Read Banned Books." (Get it? We're trying to tie it all together with this year's election. Kinda the whole two birds with one stone thing...yeah, we're just that good.) This time around we will be having you read banned books and then filling out your slips for the drawing. And can I just say, the prizes are pretty darn cool...because I picked them out!

On another note, we are still having issues with the notification system. We are having to manually call and e-mail people who have items on hold. At this point, we are not sending out any overdue notices either. So watch those checkout slips, kids! Please continue to hang in there with us as we get this whole thing figured out. (And if we call you 17 times about holds, don't turn us in for harassment!)

Also, we have begun to charge fines again as of September 15th. So allow me to reiterate my first point...watch the checkout slips...or log into your account online to keep track of your due dates.

And finally, my allergies are killing me right now. So if I sneeze on you, my sincerest apologies!

Censorship in Schools and Libraries

We have an exhibit up in our library called "Censorship in Schools and Libraries". The exhibit is sponsored by the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship, which is an association of educational and community organizations that have joined together to oppose censorship and to defend the rights of free speech and free press as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The purpose of the exhibit is to bring awareness to the various types of censorship and all the challenges it has produced in schools and libraries. The exhibit features 34 illustrations and explanations on censorship.

We have put up this exhibit to coincide with Banned Books Week at the end of this month. Banned Books Week, celebrated every year by libraries around the country is meant to bring attention to books that have been challenged (their removal from school or library shelves was requested). According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom (a subdivision of the American Library Association) there were 420 reported challenges in 2007. It is often estimated that many more go undocumented every year.

As I have said before, this is probably one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love the whole idea behind Banned Books Week. But more importantly, I love the chance to educate the patrons I serve about an issue that I feel very strongly about. It continually amazes me that there are challenges to materials in libraries. It amazes me even more that sometimes those items get removed. Most often than not, the reason for the challenge is that someone is offended by the content or language used in a book. If I could make a list of everything in our library that offended me, it would be very long. No lie. It would. But I also know that if those books that I can't stand weren't here, I wouldn't have a job. That's the beauty in libraries...we support all ideas. No matter how controversial, unconventional, or ridiculous the idea might seem to some, we at libraries will do our best to protect it and provide access to it.

I would highly encourage all of you to come out and see the exhibit. It is very interesting and at times even a bit humorous and shocking. But it is an important lesson that needs to be taught, and I hope that you all will be willing to learn.