KNOW YOUR LIBRARY
Written
by Joanne Forman for Taos Public Library……….….July 2015
REMEMBERING
A GREAT AMERICAN
Spearheaded by
Taos Town Councilor Judi Cantu, and chaired by prominent Taoseno Arsenio
Cordova, August 1 and 2 have been designated CESAR CHAVEZ DAYS.
Why should we care?
Elves do not
plant, grow and pick the crops.
While our
fruits and vegetables nowadays come from all over the world, much of our
produce still comes from California, and the San Joaquin Valley of that state
was the beginning of an epic struggle among farmworkers for justice, equity, a
living wage and to be treated like human beings.
Some Taosenos
wonder why we should care. Do you eat? Care.
And some have
never heard of the man who is certainly to be ranked among great Americans;
along with others, the creator of the only lasting farmworkers labor union in
American history.
Read up! As
usual, your Taos Public Library has books ready to help you with this history.
Our children
in particular will not know about this great American unless we tell them, in
our schools and at home. Parents can start the process with books from the
Children’s Library. These include (all are illustrated):
Cesar Chavez
by Consuelo Rodriguez. JbCha
Cesar Chavez
by Joeming Dunn. JbCha
Cesar Chavez
by Eric Braun. JbCha
Cosechando
esperanza. By Kathleen Krull. JspBcha. (also in the adult section: Sp
331.88.Cha
An Elegy on
the Death of Cesar Chavez by Rudolfo Anaya. J881.1A
For the
grownups an excellent (this writer can attest to its accuracy, as she knew many
of the participants and witnessed some of the incidents) introduction to the
earlier days of the struggle is
SAL SI PUEDES (“Get Out If You Can” a reference to a very
poor barrio in San Jose, Calif.)
An important
part of Cesar Chavez was his absolute commitment to non-violence. This is well
examined in CESAR CHAVEZ AND THE COMMON SENSE ON NON- VIOLENCE. 331.88Cha.
(For more on
Cesar Chavez, Amazon has a list of 45 books!)
….WHERE ARE THE BOOKS???
Sometimes,
when the catalog tells us a book is on the shelf in the library—it isn’t. What
has happened? Well if it’s not mis-shelved (which is extremely rare, due to the
competence of our volunteer shelvers) it means it has disappeared. This is a
problem in every library in the nation, and Taos is not exempt. While outright
theft is pretty rare (that’s why the beeping machine goes off if you try it) we
speculate that in most cases a book was properly checked out—but then became lost—or
so overdue the patron forgot about it or is afraid of a whopping fee. Take
heart! The maximum fee for an overdue book is $5. IF you have, say, ten books
overdue—you have a problem. Consult the librarian; something can probably be
arranged.
If you’ve lost or damaged a
book, ‘fess up; you will have to pay for it, but again, talk with the
librarian. They’re all very human!
August: TAOS HISTORY
September: ACEQUIAS: A UNIQUE INHERITANCE
October: PETS
What subjects
would you LIKE to see reviewed? E-mail me at:
jofo@
kitcarson.net
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