A few years back in my home state of Michigan, a local Judge and his daughter decided something had to be done about renewing the American Spirit. Judge Michael Warren, an Oakland County judge wrote a book, America's Survival Guide which detailed how the Founding Fathers envision and sustained this country for centuries. He goes on to express how not knowing our own history, America is doomed to fail. After reading this book, it lead to the inspiration of putting together a list of books about American Patriotism for children and their families to share. It was one of the most rewarding project to date because the list proved to be a tool to help others find their love and pride of our country. For Judge Warren, this books seems to have inspired his family to create a National Week of celebrating the American Spirit now celebrated in many states as Patriot Week, September 11 -17.
Now some librarians and perhaps even patrons may make the argument that libraries should not be places where books, displays and programs should be one sided or biased. After all don't we look a bit silly waving our American flag, reading wonderful books about the greatness of our Country and listening to patriotic stories and presentations that point all the good there is in our country. It would appear that we are simple country bumpkins who don't want the whole truth. The answer to this question is no. Here's why: America with all it's faults and flaws is still the only country in the world where Freedom still has meaning to it's citizens. Far too often, political idealist on both sides take for granted the freedom of speech and demonstration. Citizens are given a right to protest, yell and complain about anything as long as it does not hurt another human being or interfere with their rights. Marching on a side walk in front of City hall with the sign that says "Our Mayor stinks and is crooked" will not result in an arrest. It may spark conversation and debate, and that's okay as long as the conversation and debate is civil.
These days, the art of civil conversation seems to have disappeared. As Americans, we have lost sight of who we are, why are country came to be and even to the point of forgetting why public libraries were opened from the beginning. Here's a reminder: public libraries were to store knowledge so that future generations could share knowledge, ideas and to have civil discussion about events and issues of the day. Patriot Week aims to reignite the love of country through reading and sharing ideas which pertains to Our Founding Fathers, Inallianble rights and honoring those who have gone before us who fought for Women's and Civil Rights. These are very good reminders of the good that has happened and give hope that the best days are yet to come.
September 11 begins Patriot Week, with the somber reminder of the tragedy of 9/11/01. One book title that has become a favorite, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Mordical Gerstein. When the book was first published in 2007, there was little hope that this could ever be put to use in a story time. The reviews of the book didn't give much hope that it would have anything to do with 9/11 and quite frankly was the tragedy of the day a good topic for story time. Surprisingly, this story's ending provided a subtle way of talking about the towers that would not bring about fearful images for little ones. (K-2) After using the story a few times for family read alongs, a surpassing thing happened. Parents shared with others their memories of the towers, that day or where they were. Children learned from Oral History (fancy way of saying they heard an historical account from a primary source) what America was like in 2001.
Truth be told, libraries are at the keeper of the stories. All the stories, novels, short, fiction and non fiction alike. Which makes it even more important to participate in celebrations such as Patriot Week at the library. The stories of America's spirt should be kept alike and retold as often. Patriot Week is the perfect time to take down the books of the shelves and share them with old and young at heart. Even if your library does not participate in this week, reading about America is a great idea just the same. If in need of a list of books that may help spark the American spirit within yourself or library, email thelibrarianatlarge@gmail.com to receive a copy of the list.
