Libraries open doors for day of action
Three years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
libraries across the United States took a day of mourning and
turned it into a day of action.
CSU’s Morgan Library participated in The September Project, a
project designed to use libraries to get students registered to
vote and become more educated about the government.
“I went to the American Library Association in Orlando in July
and they were handing out fliers,” said Cathy Cranston, a reference
librarian that helped bring the project to CSU. “It was an
invitation to use this day to celebrate democracy.”
Morgan Library is one of the many libraries that participated in
the event worldwide.
“The last time I checked there were around 450 libraries
participating in the country and there were eight participating
internationally,” Cranston said. “Libraries want to show that they
play an important role in society: they are places for people to
come and meet and talk, and people can come and get information
year round, no matter what party you are.”
The librarians were at a table to show students various Web
sites where they could get information on the election and the
issues involved.
Associated Students of CSU and the New Voters Project where also
present to register students to vote.
“ASCSU does voter registration every year, but this is the first
time we have partnered with the New Voters Project,” said Courtney
Stephens, a senior in political science and the ASCSU director of
Community Affairs.
The New Voters Project is a non-partisan grassroots organization
designed to register voters and encourage voting.
“It’s incredibly important that students vote this year. This is
literally history in the making. The number of 18-24 year olds who
vote has been declining ever since we won the right to vote. This
will be the first year it has increased,” said Erin Hickok, campus
organizer for the New Voters Project.
Working with the September Project at CSU is just one of the
things the New Voters Project is doing to get young people
registered.
“Housing the September Project will absolutely help students
become more aware of what is going on, especially with many of the
other projects we’re doing,” Hickok said.
While the number one goal is currently getting students
registered, that is not the only goal the September Project has
planned.
“First and foremost we want to get students to register and
follow through with voting, but we’re hoping to every year have
some kind of civic engagement on the 11th,” Cranston said. “We want
to remember what happened on this day and turn it into something
positive.”
“http://www.newvotersproject.org”>www.newvotersproject.org
“http://www.theseptemberproject.org”>www.theseptemberproject.org
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