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Sailing Away and Life Preservers



File this under daydreams at six am…

When I am a millionaire I will get to pick the people in the Howard County Library’s Evening in the Stacks promotional videos. Heck, if I’m a multimillionaire maybe I can write the scripts!

This is not to say that I think any of this needs improving. It simply looks like so much fun that I imagine that it would be delightful to get in on the act. 

Evening in the Stacks is the library system’s big ticket fundraising event. Often glamorous, always fun* - - it might be easy to forget the point of it all.

Did you know that only 54 percent of Howard County’s children enter their first year of school kindergarten-ready? (per 2023-2024 Maryland Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Report) 

That number has declined since 2019 and is even lowerfor children of color, children with disabilities, and low-income households.This year, our goal is to raise $150,000 to support thevital work HCLS does to help prepare young children for kindergarten.

Libraries are uniquely positioned to help close that gap. Through early childhood classes, libraries prepare children to develop the social and emotional skills they need to succeed and graduate high school. Libraries provide stimulating, literacy rich environments for young children and provide tools to help parents and caregivers talk, read, sing, and play with their children every day. 

HoCo Locals often forget that our county library system is grouped under Education. Here’s a concrete example of how their mission dovetails with K-12 education rather than compete with it (as some have suggested.)

Early childhood initiatives as well as support for early intervention are ways to get involved at a crucial time in a child’s life that can make enormous long term impact. Remember this admonition from the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu?

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in. 

The library system is focusing on a place where vulnerable members of our community can so easily “fall in.” More than merely a nice thing to do, it’s also a wise investment in strengthening potential rather than just waiting until our young people are in crisis and need to be pulled out.

Can’t afford a big ticket gala? Shy? Avoiding crowded social events? You can still provide valuable support to our libraries by:

  • visiting your library 
  • checking out materials 
  • exploring the new website and connecting with opportunities they provide 
  • attend classes and events
  • let people know you love your library
  • support the rights of free people to read freely 

Anyway…the theme of this year’s event is Evening in the Stacks Sets Sail. Here’s the first of this year’s videos: Evening in the Stacks Sets Sail, Part One. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit Evening in the Stacks at the HCLS website.


Video from HCLS YouTube channel 


I’ll be stopping by the East Columbia branch this morning to pick up a book. I’ll let you know if I see any signs of watery adventures.


*for extroverts


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