Release_1973-1974_1974-300.pdf

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Part of News Release (February 20, 1974) Friends of the Olympia Library Newsletter

extracted text

I,
"

SEVENTH
OLY.MPIA,

AND

FRANKLIN

WASHINGTON

98501

NEWS RELEASE

for release

for further information

February 20, 1974

Jack Webb, Paul Jeffrey 866-6413

"Why Libraries?" will be the topic for discussion Tuesday, February 26,
at 8 pm in the Olympia Public Library, as a series of eight free public
forums designed to increase community dialogue about local library services
gets under way.
The discussion series is part of the project "Education: The Public
Library and the People's Needs", organized by the Friends of the Olympia
Library and a group of students at The Evergreen State College.

Funded in

part by the Washington Commission for the Humanities, the public forums
are just one part of the overall project, according to Bill McKamey, a
coordinator of the community effort.
"We are also interviewing 2400 residents of the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
area, 1600 by mail and 800 in person, in order to determine what educational
needs they have which are not currently being met," McKamey explained,

"By

the time the project ends in April, we should have a good idea of how changes
can be made which will enable the libraries to better serve local citizens."
The February 26 forum, a discussion of the historical role played by the
library in our society, and its philosophical importance to us today, will be
lead by Giovanni Costigan, Professor of History at the University of Washington.
Costigan, an internationally known author and lecturer, will be joined in the
1iscussion by Matthew W. Hill, retired Justice of the Washington State Supreme
-more-

-2-

Court, and Ron G. Rowe, local architect and civic leader.
In his prepared remarks for the forum, Dr. Costigan observed that the

library is an essential component of life for people living in a democracy,
and is the symbol of democracy's resolve to insure the education of its
citizens.

"Without this education, democracy is in danger of lapsing into

the control of demagogues.

For this reason dictators everywhere -- whether

in Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and China, Fascist Spain or in plain
military dictatorships like those now in power in Greece, Brazil, and Chile
seek to impede the free flow of ideas, to impose censorship and, if necessary,
to burn books in public," Costigan added.
"Costigan's remarks will be followed by a discussion with Justice Hill,
Rowe, and four other local citizens chosen from among those interviewed,"
McKamey explained.

"I strongly urge the public to attend and become involved."

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