The September Project Blog

Sarah, the co-director for The September Project, informs me that they now have a blog. Congrats, Sarah! Welcome to the Blogosphere, and may the conversations be fruitful.

University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Ms. Elizabeth Peterson, Public Services Librarian from University of North Carolina at Wilmington, shares the following:

On Friday, Sept. 9, we plan to have a public forum in the amphitheatre just outside the library. We will invite members of the campus community to speak about what they believe and the values that drive their lives. These would be 2-3 minute essays/testimonials similar to NPR's "This I Believe" series.

On Saturday, Sept. 10 we'd like to have a film screening at the public library of Dr. Lou Buttino's documentary "Lessons of September: one school remembers 9/11," which follows one school in Brooklyn through the year after Sept. 11 to document how they came to terms with the event and the other issues the event has triggered. Dr. Buttino is an award-winning film studies professor at UNCW, and he would be present at the screening for Q&A and discussion. Following the film, we'd like to have an open forum for students from the university and local high schools to share any of their own work related to the themes of The September Project. This could include short films, poems, short stories, etc.

In the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 11, we plan to have a panel discussion at UNCW with faculty from history and political science to talk about views of citizenship over time, foreign policy, other catalytic events, etc., to put Sept. 11 in a larger context.

In the evening of Sept. 11, we plan to have a screening of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" at UNCW along with a panel discussion with film studies professor and Capra scholar Tim Palmer, Frank Capra, Jr. (a resident of Wilmington), as well as a faculty historian and political scientist to talk about the real-world context of the film. Mr. Capra will likely provide the family print of the film.

We also plan to have displays, a reading list, a website, as well as plenty of publicity leading up to the weekend.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

Idea: Essay Contest

Mr. Michael Baldwin, Director of Benbrook Library District, shared this in the PUBLIB listserv. Their libraries are sponsoring an essay contest titled "My Idea To Improve American Democracy." The submissions could be essays (or poems, plays, short stories, cartoons, etc.) of 1,000 words or less on the topic of improving American democracy.

Great idea. Might want to adapt it like so: An essay contest titled "My Idea to promote Harmony/ Tolerance/Dialogue". Participants could write about one theme, or two or three combined.

Idea: A day of healing by Delray Beach Public Library

This webpage from Delray Beach Public Library caught our eye. Though the event was organised in 2004, it's something that libraries could consider doing this year. They promoted, literally, a "Day of Healing" on Sept 11 by organising a Yoga workshop.

What we did last year, and what we're thinking for 2005

Hi, I'm Ivan, one of the collaborators for this blog. I would like to share excerpts from my email exchanges with David Silver and Sara Washburn (the Project Directors for The September Project) just so you know what we're planning.

Last year, we used this blog to:

• Let members of the public post Your Thoughts
• Highlight related books & websites (for Adult/ Young People, and for Children)
• Published the submissions for the photography contest and CONTEST WINNERS
• Highlighted "Sept-11" Related Enquiries
• Booklist on Citizenship & Democracy
• On top of that, we had physical displays of the books mentioned in the blog (we will remember to take pictures of the this year)

Some thoughts on what we plan to do this year:

• We'll continue to use this blog as the primary way to engage the public. As for the theme, while it will anchor on "September 11", the broader theme is actually about "Harmony", "Tolerance" and "Dialogue". Why? Because as our tagline goes, "It's about Community, not Geography". We've explained it here.

• We're thinking of having teens talking or blogging about the theme. Young people might have something to say on those issues. Perhaps post in their blogs, or start one.

• The expressions could take the form of group discussions/ book talks, poems, drawings, photos etc. Maybe an open performance?

• We could have Peer-to-peer book recommendations. For instance, adults recommending for other adults (and teens for teens; recommendations by children, for other children)

• Or how about an Instant Messenging discussion at a pre-agreed time? Wouldn't that be cool?

• Maybe Real-time Digital Videoconferencing? Well the time zone might be tricky... An overnight discussion/ pajama party in the library? So that we could chat with our friends from a different time zone (their morning is our night)
  

More important, this year we would like to take the conversations and dialogues beyond Singapore and to the Global Community. Imagine! Libraries from different countries networking and facilitating discussions and converstations across geographical boundaries.

What do you think of this idea?

You can email me, or leave a comment here.
Thanks!


Tag: the September project 2005

The September Project 2005

We've just signed up for The September Project 2005 -- "a grassroots effort to foster civic events in all communities on September 11."

To us, "September 11" is not just about the tragedy that happened in New York, USA. There are plenty of tragic events happening everywhere -- at the international, national, and even individual level. For instance, the most recent in Asia was the Tsunami.

This blog, and our aims, are therefore more than just about "Sept 11". It's really about themes and values like Harmony, Tolerance and Dialogue. We hope to discuss (but not preach) these values through Engagements and Conversations.

We're not quite sure what we will be doing this year. We have a few ideas and are still thinking about it. We welcome your views and suggestions.

Tag: the september project 2005