Academic Libraries Join in Marking September 11 With Discussions of What Freedom Means

By BROCK READ

Article tools

Printer friendly	E-mail article	Subscribe	Order reprints
	Discuss any Chronicle article in our forums
Latest Headlines Universities Must Disclose More Data on Animal Research A court settlement requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make public more information about research on animals, prompting some academic researchers to worry about further attacks by animal-rights extremists. 2-Year Colleges Streamline Student Aid and Focus on Counseling For Provost Who Fled Lebanon, U. of Dayton Is His 'Village' Letters Home From World War II Soldiers Are Found in College Basement

Headlines

As a community college in Mississippi digs out, staffers and students look to a difficult future

Life goes on: Miles from home, Tulane officials worry about admissions, fund raising, and the mail

Stronger hurricanes? Researchers debate whether global warming will make storms more destructive

House-passed bill would let displaced students keep Pell Grants; debate looms over other relief measures

Higher-education bill in Senate would direct savings to deficit reduction and 2 new grant programs

Community and 4-year colleges should cooperate better in education of engineering students, report says

Information Technology
Academic libraries join in marking September 11 with discussions of what freedom means

Libraries around the world plan to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by asking patrons to come together and mull over some weighty topics -- like freedom, democracy, and citizenship.

That's as it should be, according to David Silver, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Washington. Mr. Silver has helped to organize the September Project, which encourages libraries to use the month to engage their communities in conversation about the meaning of freedom.

"It's an appropriate time to have these discussions, not only about September 11, but about the world that has come out of September 11," he said.

Mr. Silver started the venture last year with Sarah Washburn, who had worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's U.S. Library Program. The September Project immediately struck a chord: Almost 500 libraries participated last year, holding voter-registration drives, readings of the Bill of Rights, and other events.

This year the roster of participants expanded to include about 620 libraries, 100 of them affiliated with colleges -- including some in such far-flung locales as Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Northern Cyprus.

"With 10 to 15 libraries in India and 8 or 9 libraries in Bangladesh signing up," Mr. Silver says, "I'm fascinated to see what they think about issues of freedom and democracy."

How the librarians choose to tackle the issues is almost entirely up to them, according to Mr. Silver.

Many libraries have prepared displays about September 11, others have scheduled lectures and discussion groups, and some have sponsored voter-education booths. But others have put their own spins on the topic. The Woodburn Public Library, in Oregon, has invited children to make crafts for soldiers with a canine unit in Iraq, while Arizona State University at Tempe's Hayden Library has offered an exhibit of photographs taken by Araceli Herrera, a Mexican photojournalist.

And, in a sign that libraries are fast becoming political battlegrounds, some institutions have decided to take on charged topics. A handful of libraries are holding panel discussions about the USA Patriot Act, a law created in response to the September 11 attacks that gives new powers to law-enforcement officials, including the ability to more easily sift through library patrons' borrowing records.

The project's goal, Mr. Silver says, is simply to help libraries pique the interest of their patrons.

He notes approvingly that some college libraries -- such as those at the University of Kansas and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington -- have chosen to work in tandem with local libraries in their communities in an effort to broaden the appeal of their exhibits and events.

"Working with the community like that," says Mr. Silver, "makes librarians stronger, and more relevant, scholars."

• FBI Seeks Library Data Under Patriot Act, Court Records Show (9/9/2005)

• House Approves Patriot-Act Measure (6/24/2005)

• Key Congressman Endorses Renewal of Patriot Act's Power Over Library Records (5/13/2005)

• On September 11, Libraries Hope to Foster Open Discussions (7/23/2004)

• Closing the Gates: Alarm Bell in the Library (4/11/2003)