Libraries and the Constitution After 9/11 Topic of Constitution Day

Olivia DrakeSeptember 15, 20062min

Posted 09/15/06
Wesleyan celebrated the 10th anniversary of Constitution Day.

According to Federal law, Wesleyan and other federally-funded institutions are required to offer programs commemorating the Constitution.

“We want to take something that is required by law, and turn it into something meaningful for the Wesleyan community,” says the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian Barbara Jones.

Jones, whose primary professional interests include intellectual freedom, presented a talk titled “Libraries and the Constitution After 9/11” in recognition of Constitution Day 2006 Sept. 19 in the Smith Reading Room in Olin Library. R

Jones has served one term as chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table, and two terms as a member of the Intellectual Freedom Committee. She was the first chair of the American College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Intellectual Freedom Committee. Jones has spoken to library, general academic, legislative and community groups about the First Amendment in libraries of all types, and has just returned from a lecture tour in Japan.

Olin Library will celebrate its centennial as a depository library with an event during Homecoming, including an exhibit in the library on the Constitution.

Constitution Day, Inc., a non-partisan non-profit organization, coordinates an annual national simultaneous recitation of the Preamble across all of America. All 50 states participate in a roll call in the order they ratified the Constitution or were admitted to the Union.

This year, General Colin Powell led a nationwide annual recitation of the preamble. The recitation was dedicated to and honored the United States military.
 

By Olivia Drake, The Wesleyan Connection editor