"A touch of wizardry to support her library" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | March 7, 2010
HULL - Calliope Pina Parker is a sixth-grader who reads as many as 10 books a week and favors Harry Potter. She dresses as Potter characters for Halloween, plays Potter trivia with friends, and regularly revisits the series - all seven books and 4,167 pages.
Calliope is also an avid user of libraries, borrowing from across the region and frequenting branches throughout the South Shore on her way to and from school, ballet, and karate practice. So it came as a particular blow when budget cuts in Hull not only sheared the local library’s funding and hours but also cost the town its state certification last month.
“Now people from Hull can’t go to any other library,’’ said Calliope, whose card is no longer welcome at many other certi fied libraries.
Wanting to do something about it, the 11-year-old organized an all-day reading of the J.K. Rowling book that started it all, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.’’
Yesterday’s readathon and bake sale, with wizardly cupcakes and “magic wand’’ frosted pretzel rods, raised awareness about the library’s circumstances and collected money for the nonprofit Friends of the Hull Public Library....
Isn't it great that the agenda-pushing Globe decided to pick up this torch above all others?
She planned the event at a time of strain for libraries throughout Massachusetts, as the recession has cut into state and municipal tax revenues....
Related: The Massachusetts State Budget
Yeah, it is more important to give tax loot to well-connected, agenda-pushing interests as you raise them all over the place.
As for the Glob, I'm tired of their deceptive and obfuscating explanations for anything and everything.
The Board of Library Commissioners decertified Hull last month because the town had cut its library budget disproportionately to other town services by a significantly wider margin than anywhere else in Massachusetts.
“It was a huge cut,’’ said George T. Comeau, chairman of the state board, who is optimistic Hull will restore funding - if not this year, then next. “We feel terrible about Hull, but at the same time very hopeful. We’ve never seen a community lose a library certification and never come back into the system. They usually come back stronger.’’
Enter Calliope to spur the rally for a comeback.
She showed poise as project manager for yesterday’s event, but she also exhibited some 11-year-old energy while trying to rally passersby for the cause.
In between shifts reading and staffing the snack table, she led a group of friends in cheers, most of them clad in Hogwarts garb.
“Go, go Gryffindor!’’ they called, doing the wave for motorists on George Washington Boulevard, next to a sandwich board advertising the event. “Harry Potter! Woo!’’
Since when did the Glob become a business agent for Harry Potter?
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"Calif. library reaches out to homeless patrons; Branches across US trying various methods to help" by Evelyn Nieves, Associated Press | March 7, 2010
Yeah, but we have PLENTY of LOOT for BANK "BAILOUTS" and WARS!!!
SAN FRANCISCO - Every day, when the main library opens, John Banks is waiting to get inside. He finds a spot and stays until closing time. Then his wheelchair takes him back to the bus terminal where he spends his nights.
Like many homeless public library patrons, all Banks wants is a clean, safe place to sit in peace. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. He doesn’t want anyone to talk to him. But the day he decides he wants help, he knows what to do: ask for the social worker.
So it ISN'T REALLY a LIBRARY anymore, is it?
It is now a HOMELESS SHELTER!
The main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, where hundreds of homeless people spend every day, is the first in the country to keep a full-time social worker on hand, according to the American Library Association.
Isn't this such a great thing. readers?
But cities across the country are trying different approaches to deal with patrons who use bathroom sinks as showers or toilet stalls as drug dens. In Philadelphia and San Francisco, libraries have hired homeless patrons to work as bathroom attendants who guide others to drop-in centers or churches where they can bathe.
Great country we are living in, 'eh, AmeriKa?
Good thing all that TAX LOOT is going for TYRANNY based on a HUGE, FAT, STINKING LIE, 'eh?
In Portland, Ore., the downtown library is trying a penalty system for patrons who commit infractions - banishing them from the library for a day for shaving, three years for fighting.
Oh, VIOLENCE at the SSSSSHHHH-SSSSHHHHH LIBRARY, huh?
You are FINISHED as a SOCIETY, AmeriKa!!!!
While San Francisco is the first to hire a social worker, other libraries may follow.
Yes, ONCE AGAIN 'FRISCO is the PROGRESSIVE LEADER of AmeriKa (puke)!!
As the economy languishes and cities shut down social programs, public libraries are becoming repositories for those who have been kicked out and turned away from all other places.
But we have BEEN IN RECOVERY for TWO QUARTERS, blah, blah, blah, and had to bailout banks and corporations while paying for wars and occupations based on lies.
Camila Alire, president of the Chicago-based library association, said that while libraries have long been refuges for the down and out, anecdotal reports underscore that they are dealing with more people than ever before with mental health issues and basic needs such as food and shelter.
Translation: YOUR SOCIETY is COLLAPSING as the RICH PARTY, AmeriKa!!!
“Public libraries are trying their best to serve their users and people who have traditionally been nonusers,’’ Alire said. “I hope that what the San Francisco Public Library has done by hiring a social worker serves as a model, because these people are educated and trained to help these patrons who have every right to use the public library system.’’
More libraries across the country are hiring therapists to teach staff members how to handle stressful patrons.
“There is a gigantic homeless population that basically ‘passes’ except nobody knows where they sleep,’’ said Edmond Otis, a psychotherapist who trains librarians. “That population is growing. But we’re looking at the mentally ill and drug addicted. And there are ways of talking to someone.’’ That includes remaining calm, treating all patrons with respect, and setting rules, he said.
For years, said Karen Strauss, the assistant chief librarian of the main branch, staff members could do little more than sympathize with the regulars who spend their days among the stacks, reading or just sitting.
When other patrons complained about the disturbances caused by mentally ill or drug addicted patrons, the library called a police officer.
But LET'S TURN THEM INTO SHELTERS anyway!!
So, WHO is LOOTING YOUR TAX DOUGH, Californians?
Last year, the library decided to partner with the Department of Public Health to hire Leah Esguerra. As resident social worker. Esguerra’s delicate task is making herself available to those who might want help without intruding on the privacy of those who do not.
Unreal!
They are SO CONCERNED about DRUG ADDICTS and HOMELESS PRIVACY while NOT GIVING a SHIT about the TAX-PAYING CITIZENS who are PAYING to be SPIED ON!!!!!!!
She estimates that she has helped 200 people in the last six months, not all of them homeless or lacking basic needs. “Some people are depressed because they can’t find a job,’’ she said. “Or they’ve lost a loved one.’’
See, another SUCCESS STORY in the Boston Glob.
Related: Boston Libraries Go Quiet
Good thing Boston doesn't have those problems, huh?
So where are the homeless going to go for sevices in Boston, readers?
