Having grown up and lived most of my adult life in very homogeneous and fairly well- heeled communities, I had not really searched my own soul for the true possibility of my chosen career for making a difference to children who have so little. Now I live and work in Norfolk, VA, a city where 65 percent of our children are in the free or reduced lunch program. In this city, where social and economic apartheid is as real and seemingly inflexible as any law possibly could be, the Norfolk Public Library strives mightily to ensure that all children, especially those living in poverty, have access to libraries after school and on weekends, in a truly appreciable way. Recently, our library was essentially level-funded despite a magnificent grassroots advocacy effort. I was feeling fairly dispirited about this fact, but reading the May editorial and Mr. Kozol's powerful essay on the importance of libraries for children has rekindled my commitment to ensure that, despite the shortsightedness of those who fund us, we will keep the window open for our kids.
Children are children only once.
We review the materials we put in our libraries. I think ALA should review their choice of role models. The people on the WWF poster stand for violence, intimidation, and vulgarity. With this poster I feel ALA is saying that these people's actions are okay because they promote reading. I understand there are those who say that what is violent and vulgar to some is not to others.