LETTERS: Library must keep up with times
To the Editor:
Norma Hannaford's column in the Nov. 19 edition of the Marion County Record, "Thought provoking books recommended," illustrated so well the first of our basic Bill of Rights, freedom of speech.
I finally feel compelled to publicly state what has been in my heart since moving home to Marion in 1987. I missed so much but the greatest loss was easy and non-judgmental access to books after being told, "We don't get those kinds of books here." It still remains in the attitudes in the new library.
We have a beautiful new library due to the efforts of Janet Marler and grassroots funding by the entire community. I can't dispute that. However, I continue to see a disproportionate share of tax money being spent on fiction more than non-fiction.
My love of reading began in the sixth grade of Pilsen Public School 115 by Sister Mary Redempta. Every day, immediately after lunch, she read to us one chapter from a book based on a true event in our nation's history, the race for free land in the Oklahoma Territory called the Cherokee Strip. If you've never read about this, look it up, if you can, in the new library.
My next mentor in high school at Centre was Howard Collett, my high school English teacher, a position my daughter now occupies. Mr. Collett is better known as Commissioner Collett. There I learned to know the classics and what great material that is.
Most importantly was my last mentor, the late Audrey Hyde Davies, my much-loved mother-in-law. She is remembered only by a few remaining present generation of Marionites for her great love of reading and book reporting. She read anything and everything and passed that passion on to me. I was hooked!
We live in a complex global community and it would behoove us all, for instance, to read books about the Middle East and the Islam faith. There are a few personal testaments, I'm sure, about their treatment of women. I hope to find them in our new library.
We are less than a year away from nominating a new presidential candidate at a critical time in our nation's history. The present president relies on his faith in God. Are any of these books present in our library? There is a column about the faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield in the Nov. 30-Dec. 6 copy of The National Catholic Register. Will we see it on the non-fiction shelf at the new library?
Presently Michael Jackson is in the news being charged with sex crimes against children. Without prejudging him, what do you know about pedophilia? It is not only present in the present wave of Catholic priests, it is present in every denomination, school, etc., wherever innocent prey can be found. How much do you know about this condition? Ask in the new library.
My spouse and I have seen, heard about, or experienced the effects of every imaginable human behavior. The world's problems are right here in Marion County. Practically every first baby of the new year is born to an unwed mother. Meth existence has infiltrated our young and not so young population.
Educate yourselves, if you can, in the new library.
Two good reads we have gotten our hands on are "The Flyboys," by James Bradley and "Sickened," by Julie Gregory. It will tell you a lot about the depths and heights the human spirit can soar. You can find them in our new library.
I'm not only speaking about the lack of available non-fiction, but why should our tax dollars be spent disproportionately on fiction. I occasionally read it, if it's worth reading. A good example is Jean Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear" series about prehistoric peoples. It is richly researched and well written.
I'm not speaking about books. I'm speaking about attitudes. I am an American citizen. I have the right of freedom of speech. I will not accept anything less.
Why wasn't computer access made available for patrons in the library?
I'm well aware of inter-library loan and I use it. But why are new book lists taped in tiny print on the outside of the fiction rack? Why aren't they displayed on the front desk in an enlarged list that also includes material in new books? Then all will know if they want to read it.
My intention is not to criticize. It's intended to stimulate thought and hopefully responses — even negative ones. Thank you, Mrs. Hannaford, for lighting a candle in a deep darkness.
Gemma Davies
Marion
