05 July 2011

Save Troy Public Library Tuesday: What is a Millage?


This week we begin Save Troy Library Tuesday with another letter which --although written 40 years ago-- speaks clearly to citizens of today.

______________________________
Dear Young People of Troy (Michigan, that is):

Troy fell well over 2,000 years ago. It did not fall because the Greeks used a hollow wooden horse to get into the city. Troy fell because people were over-confident. They were sure they had the answer; they knew they were on top.
Who was Herbert Zim?

Now Troy, Michigan has a library. Be proud of it. But don't take it as the answer. The answer won't come from teachers, either, or even from parents or your best friends. You must always ask, what was left out? What more do I need to know? Only in this way --by constant questioning-- will Troy, Michigan avoid the fate of ancient Troy.

Once again, no invader will come to your shores but there will be danger within --danger from too many people, danger from a run-down environment, danger from smog, pollution, garbage --and just not caring. There is the danger of thinking that going to school means getting educated. There is also the danger of thinking that getting more means getting better.

And while the library is not the answer -- it can certainly help. It is a tool to use and there is one way that you can help too. Bring a friend to the library. Get him to bring a friend, also. A good library is one that is over-worked and over-used.

All good wished to you and to Troy.

Your friend,
Herbert S. Zim
______________________________

Thankfully people ARE talking and bringing friends to libraries and asking lots of question, including The Sisters who were wondering exactly what a "millage" is?
According to Wikipedia, a millage is "an ad valorem tax levy on the value of property that the owner of the property is required to pay to a government in which the property is situated."
Note: The latin words ad valorem mean "to the value"; an ad valorem tax is based on the value of a property. And levy means "to impose or collect tax". 
The August 2nd Troy Public Library millage election requests .7 mills for 5 years.  If you are a Troy resident you can find your estimated cost, click here. 


The Sisters aren't the only ones with questions about the millage election on August 2nd, thankfully Troy Public Library is ready to help:
In order to answer any questions you have about this millage, the Library staff will hold a a series of Community Meetings throughout July. These meetings are open to the public. Please attend and bring a friend! The meeting dates are:
Wednesday, July 6, 10 am, Troy Community Center Room 303
Thursday, July 7, 1:30 pm, Troy Community Center Room 301
Monday, July 11, 11 am, Troy Community Center Room 301
Tuesday, July 12, 7 pm, Troy Community Center, Room 302
Wednesday, July 13, 10 am, Troy Community Center Room 302
Thursday, July 14, 2 pm, Troy Community Center Room 301
Monday, July 18, 10 am, Troy Community Center Room 301
Monday, July 18, 7 pm, Community of Christ Church
Tuesday, July 19, 1 pm, Troy Community Center Room 305
Tuesday, July 19, 7 pm, Big Beaver United Methodist
Wednesday, July 20, 1:30 pm, Troy Community Center Room 303
for more information: visit the TPL website.

These stories in the press might help answer questions:

The Growing List of Millage Supporters:
-The League of Women Voters, read more
-The Troy School Board
-The Troy Chamber of Commerce, read more
-Former City Manager Frank Gerstenecker
-Former City Councilman Dave Lambert
-Former Mayor Jeanne Stine
-And five of the seven current sitting council members: Mayor Louise Schilling, Mayor Pro Tem Mary Kerwin, Councilwoman Robin Beltramini, Councilwoman Maureen McGinnis, and Councilman Dane Slater
-The Troy Democratic Club
-The International Academy of Design and Technology

Now, keep up to date with what's happening and please, help if you can!

Enjoy this week's selection of 1971 letters written to the Children of Troy:
______________________________

Who was John Berryman?
My dear Mrs. Hart:

You are kind enough to ask me to say something to the children of Troy about their new library. If I were there to talk with them, I might say something like this:

"Young Friends,-- You are lucky to have now a free library. Until comparatively recent times there were no books for children at all; their mothers told them stories; instead of that unfortunately, you have probably been watching television, and that is mostly a waste of time. In a book called The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, you will find a descriptive line, "Turfy mountains where live nibbling sheep", and it will be years before you will understand how powerful this line is, but even now you may see that it enriches your mind more than a half an hour of TV.

Some books your will want to own. My daughter (who is named Martha, aged eight) has read The Wizard of Oz nine times. She has several hundred books and uses some of my thousands. But she also uses every week both her school library and our city library. She is wrapped up at the moment in a "life" of the wonderful woman Helen Keller who was born blind and deaf but was taught, by another wonderful woman, both to read and write and speak.  Good biographies will tell you much about human life, and how to live it, that you cannot learn from your parents and teachers and friends. You might begin now with one of the Gospel narratives of the life of Christ, say Matthew's; and when you are older, one of professor Erickson's great biographies, Young Man Luther or Gandhi's Truth, may explode into your own life, altering its purpose. The chief thing is to read as hard as you play, withe the same seriousness and a mind wide open--for any book you pick up may make you slowly or suddenly as happy as if you had a new little sister.

You have a pretty building for your books. Go in, and change your life."

Yours faithfully,
John Berryman

______________________________

Who was Harry Golden?
I received my education between the lions, the two lions guarding the New York Public Library.

Whenever a young person writes me about becoming a writer I say to him, "In order to be a writer you must become a reader first." A child speaks because he hears, the writer writes because he reads.

The uses of the past are an invaluable aid to everyone. Our great lawyers were able to address a jury with quotations from Shakespeare and Omar Khayyam. The civilized person is a cultured person and the way to achieve this is by reading.

Sincerely yours,
Harry Golden

______________________________


Who was Isaac Azimov
Dear Boys and Girls,

Congratulations on the new library, because it isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future, a teacher that knows more than any human being, a friend that will amuse you and console you --and most of all a gateway, to a better and happier more useful life.

Isaac Asimov

______________________________

Dear Children:

Did you ever think of all the people you can be meeting in your new library? Why --acrobats, singers, baseball players, knights in armour, kings, queens, elephants, dolls, jacks-in-the-boxes, angels, fairy godmothers, actors, astronauts, tuba-players - in fact, anyone you wish, through books!

You'll never forget these friends of fantasy-land once you know what warm companions they are. Happy Exploring!

All my best wishes,
Helen Gurley Brown

______________________________


How can you help? Simple: just tell two friends and ask them to tell their friends to pass this message to the people of Troy "VOTE YES August 2nd and Save Troy Public Library!" We're watching how many hits we get in Troy, and guess what? The message is getting out, the numbers are growing each week! So please, pass it on!

Thank you for helping Save Troy Public Library. See you next week!
*Letters shared with permission from Troy Public Library.
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04 July 2011

A New 4th of July Tradition: Listen, Read, Share

The Teacher just posted her 4th response to the H.Y.P.E. Challenge (how perfect that it's on the 4th)! Remember the H.Y.P.E. Challenge? We asked you to share books that your read, that were important to you when you were between 12-18. The Teacher had a brilliant idea, one worth plenty of attention on the Fourth of July! And so, read on, please! And share your independence...

The Teacher offered this invitation:
The Declaration of
Independence
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flags to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world." Concord Hymn Emerson

I've been saving this last till today, (read her other suggestions) and it seems even more pertinent daily as we listen to people aspiring to the presidency of the U.S. who don't seem have accurate knowledge of our nation's history.

Part 4: stories, songs, poems, documents, folk tales, histories that speak to us of our country; that show us where we came from and who we are and who we can become, and instill in us pride in being American.

Let's share novels we've read, plays and movies we've seen, songs we've sung, biographies and autobiographies that inspired us, speeches we've heard -- all and any of which show us at our best and at our worst, in our failures and in our successes what it means to be an American.

As a resource and starting point I would recommend, as a household reference, A PATRIOT'S HANDBOOK edited by Carolyn Kennedy. Perhaps we could set aside the month of July for patriotic reading and retelling of tales and singing of songs around a campfire and sharing of those things that inspired us as youngsters.

Perhaps we can start a tradition of every 4th of July reading aloud The Declaration of Independence - or at least parts of it - or listening to it being read on NPR. Listen here. Read here.

I'm willing to start making lists. What say you?

Thank you dear Teacher, we will! First we will listen and then each of us will begin our lists, watch for them!  Start your lists, please comment below! And Happy 4th!
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