Exploring the Cultures of Iran: A Global Project

Dr. Irina Gendelman just notified us that Saint Martin’s University O’Grady Library in Washington will participate in The September Project 2009 by educating their patrons on the history and current events of Iranian culture.

As one of the world’s oldest civilizations, Iran has contributed greatly to our understanding of literature, art, science, math and philosophy. Therefore, O’Grady Library will:

• Facilitate a discussion of Twitter and its role in recent Iranian street protests
• Show Persepolis, a film based on a graphic novel by an Iranian writer Marjane Satrapi
• Set up an interactive display on Iranian culture. Faculty and students are invited to participate by sharing their classroom assignments that explore the culture(s) of Iran. These projects will be documented and shared with libraries all over the world!

What we love so much about this September Project is that, in addition to being very informative and educational, it creatively utilizes technology to reach people around the globe. By digitally documenting the faculty and student projects, librarians will be able to share these great ideas with countless people. It is truly a global collaboration because participants get a chance to educate the world through their projects.

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The 1st Amendment

September is right around the corner and we are anticipating the upcoming events.  Recently, we have received word from the Gleeson Library at The University of San Francisco that their event will focus on the first amendment.

photos by:  davidsilver

They plan on having posters for each of the freedoms listed in the first amendment:

1)    Freedom of religion

2)    Freedom of speech

3)    Freedom of the press

4)    Peaceable assembly

5)    Right to petition

Also, they plan on displaying one or two books that relate to each freedom as well as explanatory text about Constitution Day and the September Project.  Finally, the Gleason Library will be providing free U.S Constitution copies and booklets called “Our American Government” from the Government Printing Office.  This should be a great event and be sure to check this one out if you are in San Francisco!

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Designing an Event

As mentioned in previous posts, it is hard to define what makes the “perfect” September Project event.  There are no set templates when it comes to designing a good activity, book display or community project.  But from looking at past TSP events, some of the most interesting projects capture the surrounding culture and history of the region.  They inform the community about important topics such as health care, freedom of the press, and sustainability.

In 2008, the BUS-eum of the TRACES museum in St. Paul visited the North Dakota State College of Science.  The TRACES museum deals with a variety of different aspects concerning World War II.  For this exhibit, they focused on Nazi prisoner of war camps that were established in the U.S (Three of these camps were in North Dakota).

The Mildred Johnson Library sponsored the exhibit and also designed a book display about Nazi P.O.Ws.  The display had books by Nazi prisoners and included information about banned books and Constitutions Day.  This TSP event had special relevance at the time due to the troubling news stories about detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

This is just one of the many great events that have been done for The September Project.  When designing events, we encourage librarians to be as creative as possible and to try new ideas!

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What I’d Like the World to Read!

Public Libraries Singapore has announced its What I’d Like the World to Read! For The September Project 2009. Patrons are invited to create a short video, audio or Power Point presentation on any book they choose and why they think it is important for the world to read it. Here is a sample of one of their submissions, What I’d Like the World to Read- The Giver, by Lois Lowry.




Public Libraries Singapore- Past September Projects
For the Public Libraries Singapore 2008 September Project, teens from CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School created a giant interactive game board on Our Nation’s heritage, culture and history on landmarks at the Jurong Regional Library. Patrons were then free to play the game and learn more about their community.

In a past year, Ivan Chew of the Public Libraries Singapore also hosted a global event with Beverly Holmes Hughes, the Director of the Sugar Grove Public Library (IL). They coordinated an event in which teens from Singapore communicated with teens from Illinois via Instant Messenger, discussing how their lives were different and similar. This awesome event remains a TSP favorite!

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smart program idea for teens

This week, Darren Thompson at the Blue Island Public Library in Illinois posted on pub-lib about a teen program he runs at the library:

“We host a program called ‘Passport to ____,’ where the teens pick a different country each month and we visit that country using Google Earth, offer dishes from that country (cooked either in the Library – the teens like to watch us prepare them – or at home and then bring them in) and listen to music from the country. It’s been quite successful.”

This program could easily be a September Project event, where teens (or adults or children) could learn more about another culture. I love how he includes food, too! What would this look like at your library?

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A call to action: ask questions at the US presidential debates

With the American presidential race in full swing, libraries are preparing voters with information and offering access to registration so as many people as possible can take part in the process. James Rettig, the President of ALA, is asking libraries to take it one step further this year:

On Tuesday, October 7, one of the three 2008 Presidential debates between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will be held at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. This debate will be a town hall format moderated by Tom Brokaw. The moderator will call on members of the audience as well as select questions submitted online.

During this election year, we are looking for librarians and library supporters from across the country to call attention to the value of today’s libraries in our communities, as well as the issues the library community is facing. We encourage all ALA members to submit questions. The Commission on Presidential Debates has partnered with MySpace to create a new Web site, www.MyDebates.org. This site will become available in the days leading up to the first Presidential debate on September 26. The more questions submitted, the more likely a library question will be asked. This is an opportunity for the library voice to become an important part of the 2008 Presidential election.

Sincerely,
James Rettig
ALA President

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Waffle Brunch with Benjamin Franklin at Beaufort Branch Library!

Last week, Beaufort Branch Library adult events programmer Amanda Brewer emailed the September Project listserv to share the following news:

The Beaufort Branch Library in Beaufort, SC is a medium-sized library located along the beautiful South Carolina coast known as the Lowcountry. This is our first time joining the September Project!

As the adult events programmer, I have planned two special events in addition to our usual book clubs and computer classes for the month of September that fit the aims of the September Project. Our programs are:

1) Saturday Movie: Saturday, Sept. 13th
National Treasure: Book of Secrets, PG open to all ages

Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates is back and looking to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He finds John Wilkes Booth’s diary and is determined to uncover the mystery within the 18 missing pages in this great action adventure.

2) Brunch with Ben Franklin, Saturday, Sept. 27th

Historical impersonator and professor emeritus, Ed Beardsley, will be performing as Benjamin Franklin during an all ages brunch. [See Beardsley as President Woodrow Wilson!] As participants enjoy a hearty breakfast of waffles, muffins, and fresh fruit, they will learn about the formation of the Constitution from an entertaining Ben Franklin.  At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to mingle with Ben Franklin asking questions and snapping pictures.

You heard that right: “As participants enjoy a hearty breakfast of waffles, muffins, and fresh fruit, they will learn about the formation of the Constitution from an entertaining Ben Franklin.” It is exciting to see so many of this year’s September Projects involving food and community meals! I hope folks at Beaufort Branch Library and ol’ Ben Franklin will take a lot of photographs because these events sound delicious.

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we have a map!

It’s been fun to watch September Project events evolve over the past 5 years, and fascinating to watch technology improve and expand along with them. Way back in 2004, we had a map that marked each participating library with a pin. The map was based on code, sweat, and tears by our then Technology Director John Klockner, and each pin was painstakingly placed using layers of x and y coordinates as each event was posted to our listserv.

Fast forward 5 years, and through the magic of google maps, we’re able (we = david and me, non-coders) to create and embed a map for the September Project as if we had some kind of special powers 🙂

So now you can add to the magic! If you don’t see your event on the map, please drop us a line or post to the listserv. we’re excited to see your library marked with a pin!

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blogging the september project: use this tag!

If you have a blog and plan to post about your September Project event, please don’t forget to use this tag:

TSP08

Using this tag will connect all of the events and make it easy for others to find your event and other participants from around the globe.

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