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11-year-old raises funds for town's cash-strapped library

Stephen Krashen comment sent to the Boston Globe: Something is seriously wrong in Hull.

Isaac Asimov wrote, "When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself."

When a sixth grader has to organize a fundraiser to save a local public library, something is seriously wrong ("11-year-old raises funds for town's cash-strapped library," March 7).

Research shows that better public and school libraries are related to better reading achievement. The reason for this is obvious: Children become better readers by reading more, and for many children, the library is only place they have access to books.

We keep complaining about children's low reading achievement, and we keep preventing them from improving by closing libraries.


11-year-old raises funds for town's cash-strapped library

Boston Globe

By Eric Moskowitz

HULL -- Calliope Pina Parker, a sixth-grader who sometimes reads 10 books a week, is particularly fond of Harry Potter. She dresses as characters from the books for Halloween, peppers friends with Potter trivia questions, and rereads the entire series -- all seven books and 4,167 pages -- annually.

Calliope is also an avid user of libraries, borrowing books 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 cuts in Hull not only sheared the library's budget 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 library card is no longer welcome in most other communities.

The 11-year-old decided to do something about it. Today she organized an all-day "readathon" of the J.K. Rowling book that started it all, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," to raise awareness about the situation and money for the nonprofit group that supports the library.

Calliope, a student at the South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell, found a location, publicized the event through e-mail, fliers, and phone calls, and organized a network of readers that extended well beyond her circle of friends.

The schedule of participants, stretching across three poster sheets at the Weir River Estuary Center, included the names of two selectmen, allowed readers to go at their own pace -- some took a page, some half a chapter -- and provided flexibility for drop-ins.

"It's a great idea. Calliope really handled it herself. We were there to help her when she asked for it, but she really has put it together herself," said Lindsay Clinton, a board member of Hull Performing Arts, a cultural organization that helps handle scheduling at the Weir River center, a public hall with windows that frame the marsh grass of the estuary. "We showed up with the trashcan and the cash box, but for the most part, it's been her."

Calliope scheduled the event at a time of historic strain on the state's library system, a function of the recession that has hampered tax collections and forced cuts to a range of municipal and state programs and services.
To maintain certification with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners -- which enables local residents to borrow more broadly and allows a library to receive state aid and grants -- a community must meet a number of requirements for library spending and operating hours, based on population and past funding.

Cities and towns that fail to meet the minimums can seek a waiver, and 97 of them applied this year, nearly four times the number last year and higher than at any time in the last two decades. The board last month granted them all waivers except Hull, because the library was a singled out for a cut 58 percent greater than other departments in Hull's budget.

"It was a very difficult decision," said Gregory J. Shesko, a commissioner who sided with the majority in the 4-3 vote, drawing on the experience of his own community, Needham, where the town rallied from decertification two decades ago to support a vibrant library. "Hopefully the community in Hull will rally around the library."



— Eric Moskowitz, comment by Stephen Krashen
Boston Globe
2010-03-07
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/03/young_harry_pot.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed6

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