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Friends of the Library are the proud recipients of the first prize award for
"Best Project by Friends" statewide.
Accepting the award and prize money in St. Paul,
Friends President Liz Schendel thanked
the Minnesota Association of Library Friends (MALF) for this award in honor of
our Bookcase Quilt Project. Liz had
the quilt on hand for pictures, viewing and questions from other Friends
organizations and librarians. There
were 5 finalists for this award including the Aitkin Friends with their project,
Landmark Tours; Kimball Friends with Ice Cream Social at the Library (which had
in attendance 100 of the 600 residents of their town!); Long Lake Friends with
Newspaper Book Reviews; and the
Ramsey County Library Friends who have set up a library for inmates at the
Ramsey County Workhouse and Detention Center.
All are wonderful deserving projects and it was a difficult decision,
according to Barb Byers of MALF. The Bookcase Quilt won because of it's
connection to the community through the combined efforts of two community
organizations (Friends of the Library and Heart of the Woods Quilters), the sale
of the "books" and it's permanent place on display in the library, as
well as raising over $6400 (so far) for the library.
There is still time to buy a book on the quilt - it can hold about 10
more books before the shelves are full. If you have not taken the time to stop
at the Library to see the quilt, make the effort - you will be glad you did.
In addition to receiving the award, Liz attended several
library and media- related seminars of interest.
Did you know that by the time the average high school student graduates,
he or she has watched twice as many hours of television as they have spent in
school? And this does NOT include
video games or movies! Dr. David
Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family addressed this topic in
relation to kids and media, media and violence and what it means for kids and
reading. Among his other messages are that American children spend more time
watching TV than any other activity of their waking lives - 50 times greater
than the amount of time spent interacting with their fathers, and 10 times
greater than interacting with their mothers.
67% of prime time programs contain portrayals of or references to sex;
5.3 sexual scenes per hour and the average child will witness 200,00 acts of
violence on TV before he or she graduates from high school.
It is his opinion that if this is not influencing violent behavior in our
children, it is at the very least teaching us to be a culture of disrespect.
Whoever tells the stories defines the culture.
Anyone interested in more information can contact the Institute directly at 888-672-5437. They have a
variety of free resources available for children, parents and educators on
maximizing the benefits and minimizing the harm of media on children and
families.
Friends of the Library will host their annual General Membership Meeting
and election of officers on November 2, 2000 at 1:00 PM in the library
meeting room. All members are
encouraged to attend.