March 29, 1995 - interfiling, American girls and ombudsmen

Lately my daughter, Maddy, has begun reading the famous American Girl books. This series, written for young girls, and featuring an variety of engaging young heroines who throw some light on American history, is a pleasure to read, and stimulating besides.

While my wife and Maddy have read lots of them, I've just read two: one about Addy, an escaped slave around the time of the civil war (wonderfully written!), and one about Kirsten, a Swedish immigrant in the late 1800s.

As I have mentioned before, our household is also highly aware of another series: the encyclopedia. Because of the latest American Girl book, Sweden was the topic today at lunch. While the rest of the family munched away, I read to them.

It turns out that there's a lot to admire about Sweden. For instance, it has among the highest standards of living in the world, the highest rates of literacy, and the lowest rates of infant mortality.

It also has an interesting governmental position, and was the first to create it, although it quickly became adopted by other Scandinavian and European countries. This position is called an "ombudsman." An ombudsman receives citizen complaints about governmental services, and investigates them.

This recognizes an important truth: public institutions don't always do the right thing by their constituents. Or to look at it another way, it's hard to please everybody all of the time.

It happens that the library is the object of some criticism these days from some home schoolers in Parker. In particular, they're worried about my suggestion that the new Parker Library combine its adult and juvenile non-fiction. I should say that the fiction sections would still be distinct, and all juvenile non-fiction titles would still be clearly identified both on the shelf and in the computer.

While I'm not the first person to dream up this idea, it is relatively rare in the library world -- mostly confined to small or rural libraries, where there's something of a space shortage.

Here's what I like about it: all of a library's books on a subject are shelved together. I see this as a matter of public and staff convenience. Child or adult, you go to one location to track down books on a topic.

To my mind, this OUGHT to result in at least two things: the increased use of juvenile non-fiction by adults, and the increased use of adult non-fiction by children. It offers a range of reading levels, which can be a big help no matter how old you are. It sends the message that our non-fiction collection belongs to everybody, all ages.

But the home schoolers raised some solid objections: putting children's non-fiction in with the adult books might actually be a DETERRENT to use by children. Typically, adult stacks are taller than children's, on occasion making it physically more difficult or dangerous for children to reach what they want.

Too, the sheer number of bulkier, more difficult texts might have a discouraging effect on both children and their parents, making it harder to quickly pull together some selections that are more appropriate to an age or reading level. The result? A non-fiction area that seems intimidating.

I tell you frankly, that this concern by our patrons is ... thrilling! It's a testament to the quality of our regular customers that they take this issue so much to heart. In most towns, who has given an instant of consideration to where the library shelves its juvenile non-fiction?

I've promised the home schoolers that I'd do a little more research on the issue, and also put out a call for more general public commentary. We've been using "interfiling" at the Highlands Ranch Library for almost 4 years, and while I've gotten one complaint, we've gotten many compliments on the system. Maybe that isn't representative.

So in the best American Girls tradition, here's your chance to participate in our shared culture. Next time you're at the library, let one of us know your thoughts or experiences with interfiling. Think of me as your ombudsman.

March 8, 1995 - Lowenberg Castle history talk

Mary Borg, an acquaintance of mine, is the author of book called, "Writing Your Life: an Easy-to-Follow Guide to Writing Your Autobiography." In it, she described a visual aid to spark remembering: draw the floor plan of the house you grew up in.

It works. Just hand a piece of paper to your spouse or parent and ask them to give it a try. As they draw, they talk. You'll be astonished by the wealth of information that starts pouring forth. You'll also notice that this information provides often surprising insights into the character of the person doing the remembering.

In some respects, this exactly parallels the work of a group of Castle Rock high school students, authors of the classic, "Castle Rock: A Grass Roots History."

In 1975, after working with the State Historical Society of Colorado as a writer and researcher, local teacher Bob Lowenberg returned to his Douglas County High School history classes. He was fired with a renewed passion for the study of the past. But how to get the young people in his class to share that passion, to discover and to value the deeper meaning behind the seemingly barren facts and dates?

His method was inspired. In his 9 week seminar, "What is history?" he gave his students the task of writing the history of various structures in Castle Rock. In short, he made it personal.

In the beginning, the response of some students was predictable. They wondered, "What possible relevance could history have to my life?" When asked just what history might be, many thought it, "the objective recording of the past." But they soon discovered the awful truth: at best, historical objectivity has its biases.

By the time they finished, the students had become scholars. Even more importantly, their immersion in the past of their community had forged a new connection to it.

But anyone who becomes alive to a community can also be wounded by its losses. These students, with their roused awareness of the importance of the past and the value of historical structures, came of age just as the glory of Castle Rock's architecture, the old County Courthouse, was destroyed.

To hear more about these events, and the history of Castle Rock generally, please attend a talk by Mr. Lowenberg at our March 12, Local History/Local Authors program. The program will begin at 2 p.m. at the Philip S. Miller Library's Community Meeting Room in Castle Rock. It is free, refreshments will be served, and copies of "Castle Rock: A Grass Roots History," will be available for purchase.

It happens that this is the last of our highly successful "Second Sunday" historical lectures -- the brainchild of Johanna Harden, the library's Conservation Specialist.

In the beginning of his book, Lowenberg quotes Macaulay:

"A people that takes no pride in the accomplishments of their remote ancestors will probably produce nothing worthy of recollection by their remote descendants."

Here's another quote: "In my father's house are many mansions." Perhaps we owe it to ourselves to take a closer look at the floor plans of our forebears.