Every year since 2002, the National Endowment for the Humanities has invited libraries across the country to apply for a "We the People" bookshelf grant.
Recipients of the grant are given a collection of classic American books on a particular theme. This year's theme, "Created Equal," seems particularly appropriate as we approach the Fourth of July during a historic election year. This country has faults, certainly, but its founding principle that "all men are created equal" shines above petty mistakes and failings.
As you watch parades, go to barbeques and visit the beach this holiday weekend, rejoice at the diversity of people that surround you.
If you'd like reading to support the highest aspirations this government holds, come check out one of the books from this year's grant. They're on display in the Children's Room. Enjoy them, enjoy Independence Day and look for programs celebrating these titles in the fall.
Happy Fourth of July!!
We the People Bookshelf Titles include "Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution" by Natalie Bober; "Abraham Lincoln the Writer" edited by Harold Holzer; "Amistad: A Novel" by David Pesci; "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jimenez, also in Spanish; "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis; "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, also in Spanish; "Freedom Walkers" by Russell Freedman; "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln; "Give Me Liberty" by Russell Freedman; "Lincoln: A Photobiography" by Russell Freedman; "Lincoln's Virtues" by William Lee Miller; "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson, also in Spanish; "Pink and Say" by Patricia Polacco, also in Spanish; "Many Thousand Gone" by Virginia Hamilton; "Saturnalia" by Paul Fleischman, and "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen.
