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Communities Matter!
National Library Week 2013
History of National Library Week
In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books
and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that
Americans were reading less, the American Library Association and the American
Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National
Book Committee in 1954. The committee's goals were ambitious. They ranged from
“encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time” to
“improving incomes and health” and “developing strong and happy family
life.” In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based
on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use
libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising
Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme
“Wake Up and Read!”
National Library Week was observed again in 1959, and the ALA Council voted
to continue the annual celebration. When the National Book Committee disbanded
in 1974, ALA assumed full sponsorship.
National Library Week is observed each
year in April, generally the second full week.
Check with your local CMRLS library or the Online CalePndar
of Events for special National Library Week programming!
A few words
regarding Libraries...
-
Cuts to Libraries during a
recession are just like cuts to hospitals
during a plague!
~Eleanor
Crumblehulme
-
The three
most important documents a free society
gives are a birth certificate, a passport,
and a library card.
~E.
L. Doctorow, New York Times, March 27, 1994
-
The public
library is the only public agency which
serves the minds of ALL of the population,
one individual at a time.
~Unknown
-
We are the
only planet, so far as we know, to have
invented a communal memory stored neither in
our genes or our brains. The warehouse of
that memory is called a library.
~Carl Sagan
-
There is not such a cradle of democracy upon
the earth as the Free Public Library, this
republic of letters, where neither rank,
office, nor wealth receives the slightest
consideration.
~Andrew Carnegie
-
Libraries
will get you through times of no money
better than money will get you through times
of no libraries. ~
Anne
Herbert, The Whole Earth Catalog
-
A library
outranks any other one thing a community can
do to benefit its people. It is a never
failing spring in the desert.
~Andrew
Carnegie
-
More than a building that
houses books and data, the library has
always been a window to a larger world–a
place where we’ve always come to discover
big ideas and profound concepts that help
move the American story forward. . . . .
Libraries remind us that truth isn’t about
who yells the loudest, but who has the right
information. Because even as we’re the most
religious of people, America’s innovative
genius has always been preserved because we
also have a deep faith in facts. And so the
moment we persuade a child, any child, to
cross that threshold into a library, we’ve
changed their lives forever, and for the
better. This is an enormous force for good.
~President-elect Barack Obama in
a speech to the American Library Association
annual conference in June 2005
A few words
from our patrons...
-
I come to the library almost
every day. I usually check my email on the
computer because I do not have the Internet at
home. I also use the laptop computer to keep an
eye on my 3 year old daughter who likes to play
games on the kid's computer. It is most
convenient to bring her to the library for Story
Time and use the computer, too. We love it here!
-Brandon Public Library patron
-
I really appreciate the use of
the Library computers. I come here to try to
enroll for college and look for employment. The
Library is a very beg help!
-Forest
Public Library patron
-
The computer
access is so important to me and my family. My
personal computer is down and I come to the
Library on a regular basis to use the computers.
I am a student at Hinds Community College/Rankin
County Branch and I use this service for my
research. My son also uses the computer for his
class assignments. I am also following job
searches and when time permits, I just use the
computers for entertainment! -Morton
Public Library patron
-
Everyone is nice and
friendly--even the circulation desk has a smile
for us! They have lots of fun programs
throughout the year; my kids have always been
able to find the books they like to read. P.S. My daughter loves the head of the
library!
-Pearl
Public Library patron
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