Gypsy’s News :
Attention all Colorado History buffs: Please come in and visit our “New and Improved” Colorado History Section here at the library. As you may have read, it’s inventory time around here. For us that means peeking into every nook and cranny and finding every single book we have, making sure it’s properly labeled and cataloged, and placing it in its correct spot. I’m sure that’s sounds perfectly boring to some of you, but for me it’s actually a lot of fun. Last week I attacked the Colorado Section, which was scattered around in several places and unfortunately falling apart at the seams. Not anymore. This section has been dusted off, spruced up, expanded, and is now just waiting for you Colorado enthusiasts to literally come and it check out. We went ahead and took most of those annoying “for library use only” labels off of most of the books and now those books are just waiting for you to come on in and take them home. So next time you find yourself with some spare time, I hope you will stop by the Colorado History section and read up on some of the fascinating little towns, rocks, flowers, trails, and people that make up our Beautiful State. Who knows, you just might even discover an interesting place that you can actually afford to drive to.
Notes from the back room:
(Thanks Jamie!) With Independence Day here I thought I would talk a little about the First Amendment. (I know civics class was a long time ago for most of us) So its the one that says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Yup. The part I want to talk about is the freedom of speech. The American revolution was in part sparked as a response to the tyrannies of England. In England at the time, people were losing civil liberties – and sometimes, their lives — for daring to speak any opinion at all that contradicted the religious majority. Authors were forbidden from writing anything unless the bishop and the King’s office first granted permission, a practice called the “imprimateur.” James Madison said, during the introduction of the Bill of Rights, that the greatest danger to liberty is to be found “in the body of the people, operating by the majority against the minority.” In other words if we only have the freedom to agree with the majority, we don’t have any freedom at all. Many patriots died to secure that freedom. The hard part about the freedom of speech is realizing that it applies to everyone, even your lousy cousin Ed who doesn’t have the common sense of a rock. That makes keeping the public library stocked with just what you agree with slightly complicated. You might think the Monty Roberts method of horse training is sick and twisted and no way, shape or form would the library need a book about gentle horse breaking. But your neighbor might disagree. Because while you have the right to free expression, so does everybody else. The library tries hard to have a fair and balanced collection. We recognize your right to pick and choose from our collection what is right for you and your family. So come on in and pick out a good one.
Robin’s Observations from the front desk:
On Tuesday, June 24th at10 a.m., the Summer Reading program had some special guests from the Pueblo Zoo. Many of these special guests had six and even 8 legs! The Entomologist, Mary, from the zoo, brought these creepy crawlies and gave a wonderful talk on what makes an bug a bug and also about all the animals found in Phylum Arthropoda (meaning Jointed Feet/Limbs). The creatures she brought with her made this Zoologist turned librarian, very excited to be helping out! I had the pleasure of talking to the kids about the Giant Vinegaroon (if you don’t know what this creature is stop by and I can tell you all the details.) Mary also brought with her some hissing cockroaches (EWWW!!!), a centipede (cool, but wouldn’t want a bite from one, no sir!), a millipede which Karen talked about (Lucky!), an Emperor Scorpion (it fluoresces under a black light; sooooo Cool!), and a Tarantula which Gypsy and her son Doug talked about (he’s a bug fanatic!). I have to say seeing the varied reactions from the kids were more than worth it! From the occasional ewww, to the “Oh, look it’s moving,” and the “What’s that?” that tends to come with an expression of intrigue, excitement, and a ting of disgust all at the same time. I have to say I’m very much enjoying the summer reading program as both a staff member and, as always, a kid at heart!
