Welcome to the 5th annual September Project! The September Project is a grassroots effort to encourage events about freedom and democracy in all libraries in all countries during the month of September. September Project events are free and organized locally.
In 2004, we began the September Project to break the silence following September 11, and to invite all people into libraries to consider topics of patriotism, democracy, and citizenship. Initially, events focused on September 11 and largely took place on September 11. As the project evolved, events spread throughout the month of September and focused on issues of freedom and democracy.
To date, public, academic, school, and government libraries around the world have organized September Project book displays, community book readings, childrens’ art projects, film screenings, theatrical performances, civic deliberations, voter registration, murals, panel discussions, and so much more. What will this year bring?
How can you participate? Organize an event at your library, and tell us about it! We’ll post all events on this site as they develop around the world.
The September Project: Connecting the world one library at a time
We are ordering the DVD “Cases in Controversy” to show to all the POLS 1000 (political science) classes the week of Constitution Day (September 17). It deals with Roe v Wade and other Supreme Court cases that are of interest to our area. (September always has to get the Constitution in…
The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights are the historic documents responsible for the freedoms and privileges that we experience today. The Cornish College of the Arts will celebrate Constitution as an opportunity to continue the legacy of these documents by developing a discussion of citizenship and community in the United States.
Blank posters have been put up on all the Cornish campuses headed by, “We the People,” the first three words of the Constitution’s preamble. These interaction zones are places to discuss and share what the “WE” in this phrase means to us. Draw, write, post photos, and make collages: all forms of creative expression are welcome!
As this is the fifth year I have taken part in an observance of this powerful day, I decided it was time to change things just a bit. I put up the display of books that I have collected over the years and simply left them out for the students to look at as they went by.
The older students (6,7 and 8th grades) have a formal library time on Tuesday morning so I let them browse, check out and then asked them to be seated.
I spoke for a few minutes about where I was on this morning 6 years ago and what I felt and thought. I talked about all the rumors that flew about who, what and where things were happening. I spoke of Barbara Olsen who was the wife of the then Attorney General, who I had the great pleasure of meeting, and told the students of how brave I thought she was in the last moments of her life.
Finally I asked the students to tell me what they remembered of that day and what the felt. All of them were very clear that they did not feel fear and were more curious about what was happening. None of them remembered the news broadcasts but every one of them could recount a story they heard about someone being a hero.
As a closing, I read to them Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman.
Roberta (Bert) Malcolm
‘No one can consider himself extraneous or indifferent to the lot of another member of the human family. No one can say that he is not responsible for the well-being of his brother or sister.’ Pope John Paul, II
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