Saturday, November 29, 2014

Ferguson Is Another Reason To Love Libraries And Librarians



In case you missed it, this may be the most heartwarming story to come out of the Ferguson protests. The Ferguson, Missouri public library has stayed open in the midst of the violent protests around it because its librarian felt it important to be there for the community. As a result, there has been an outpouring of support and donations from all over.

From NPR:
The Ferguson Public Library is just a block away from the center of demonstrations at the Ferguson Police Department. As we've reported, when violent protests this week led to the burning of more than a dozen businesses and the uncertainty caused schools to close, the library stayed open.
It has become a quiet refuge for adults and children alike in this St. Louis suburb. And the nation has taken notice. The outpouring of support for the library has reached "orders of magnitude" more than any previous amount, says library Director Scott Bonner.
He's the only full-time librarian there — and he started his job in July, just weeks before the town became an internationally known name. Bonner says the donations may allow him to hire another person to help.
As of November 27th, NPR says, the library had received more than $175,000 from more than 7,000 people. The librarian plans to use the money to buy "healing kits" for children.

photo credit: Ed

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