Three Massachusetts bookstores are part of a group that is working to
promote literacy, education and libraries both in the U.S and Iraq.
"We're trying to raise money for literacy programs here and get
textbooks and computers to send to Iraq," Nancy Felton of Broadside
Bookshop, Northampton, Mass., told Shelf Awareness. The other
organizing bookstores are the Odyssey Bookshop, S. Hadley, Mass., and
Food for Thought Books, Amherst, Mass.
Called Books Building Bridges, the year-long program is focused in western Massachusetts. Besides the bookstores, participants include librarians and artists as well as representatives of literacy organizations, the American Friends Service Committee and schools.
The group was inspired by both a Friends Services program called Harvest Aid--which has brought American and Iraqi farmers together--and Jeanette Winter's book The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (Harcourt Children's, $16, 0152054456), which tells of a Basra librarian who, with help, saved 30,000 books from being destroyed during the war.
The first event sponsored by Books Building Bridges is a panel called Learning in a Time of War and will be held the evening of Tuesday, November 29, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. The subject is "the impact of war on literacy, libraries and education both in the U.S. and in Iraq." Panelists are:
The moderator is Bonnie Isman, director of the Jones Library in Amherst.
Books Building Bridges hopes to hold similar events and is encouraging its members and others to develop their own programs. Booksellers, librarians and others in the region are being urged to promote the November 29 panel.
Another component of Books Building Bridges is a curriculum that is being put together in connection with the Literacy Project of Springfield. The curriculum is designed for adult literacy programs but "could be easily adapted to high schools," Felton said. Among its subjects are media literacy, the impact of war and the history of Iraq. In addition to reading, writing and math, the group wants to teach critical thinking.
Books Building Bridges hopes that the book business will help with donations of books, energy and money. But "the biggest help," Felton said excitedly, "would be to get Jeanette Winter to come here. That would be wonderful!"
For more information about Books Building Bridges, visit the group's Web site.
Called Books Building Bridges, the year-long program is focused in western Massachusetts. Besides the bookstores, participants include librarians and artists as well as representatives of literacy organizations, the American Friends Service Committee and schools.
The group was inspired by both a Friends Services program called Harvest Aid--which has brought American and Iraqi farmers together--and Jeanette Winter's book The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (Harcourt Children's, $16, 0152054456), which tells of a Basra librarian who, with help, saved 30,000 books from being destroyed during the war.
The first event sponsored by Books Building Bridges is a panel called Learning in a Time of War and will be held the evening of Tuesday, November 29, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. The subject is "the impact of war on literacy, libraries and education both in the U.S. and in Iraq." Panelists are:
- Saffaa Al-Hamdani, professor of biology at Jacksonville State University and founder of Books for Baghdad. (He is helping Books Building Bridges to send textbooks and computers to Iraq, most likely to the University of Baghdad, Felton said.)
- Michele Cloonan, dean and professor of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College. (Simmons runs several programs in Jordan that train Iraqi librarians.)
- Pamela Schwartz, outreach director of the National Priorities Project, which offers citizen and community groups tools and resources to shape federal budget and policy priorities that promote social and economic justice.
- Jeff Spur, Islamic and Middle East specialist at the Documentation Center of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University. (Spur has done a detailed study of conditions at university libraries in Iraq.)
The moderator is Bonnie Isman, director of the Jones Library in Amherst.
Books Building Bridges hopes to hold similar events and is encouraging its members and others to develop their own programs. Booksellers, librarians and others in the region are being urged to promote the November 29 panel.
Another component of Books Building Bridges is a curriculum that is being put together in connection with the Literacy Project of Springfield. The curriculum is designed for adult literacy programs but "could be easily adapted to high schools," Felton said. Among its subjects are media literacy, the impact of war and the history of Iraq. In addition to reading, writing and math, the group wants to teach critical thinking.
Books Building Bridges hopes that the book business will help with donations of books, energy and money. But "the biggest help," Felton said excitedly, "would be to get Jeanette Winter to come here. That would be wonderful!"
For more information about Books Building Bridges, visit the group's Web site.