ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 978 / C&RL News ■ Novem ber 2001 ume, which is a copy o f T h e C r o m w e l l B i b l e . Attendees also signed the Libraries Guest Book, w hich was first signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936 at the dedication o f Tem ple’s first library building. WESS M a rtin u s N ijh o ff Study G ra n t fo r 2002 postpo ned Swets Blackwell has postponed the 2002 ACRL W est European Specialist Section (W ESS)/ Martinus N ijhoff International Study Grant after acquiring Martinus Nijhoff International, the grant’s sponsor. A n announcement about the grant’s future is expected upon the com­ plete integration o f the two companies in the spring o f 2002. For further information about other ACRL award opportunities, visit http://www.ala.org/ acrl/aw ard2.htm l or contact ACRL Awards Program Assistant, Stephanie Sherrod at (312) 280-2515, e-mail: ssherrod@ala.org. NEH C h alleng e G ra n t f o r local h isto ry NEH has announced a special initiative to support the local history efforts o f organiza­ tions with activities and collections vital to the history o f a locality. Challenge grants will Thoughts about theJibrary, librarians, and our hopes and fears E d i t o r ’s n o t e : T h e f o l l o w i n g m e s s a g e f r o m S i d n e y V erba, C a rlH . P f o r z h e i m e r U n i­ v e r s i t y P r o f e s s o r a n d d i r e c t o r o f t h e H a r v a r d U n iv e r s it y L ib r a ry , a p p e a r e d o n t h a t l i b r a r y ’s W eb s i t e . W e a r e r e p r i n t i n g it w i t h p e r m i s ­ s i o n a s a n a i d e t o s u s t a i n i n g a n d i n s p i r i n g u s d u r i n g t h e s e d i f f i c u l t t i m e s . When the horror o f September 11 burst upon us, I was w riting something for a dif­ ferent purpose on the com plexity o f the work o f libraries and librarians in our mul­ timedia digital age. It was for a non-library audience and what was said would sound familiar to all o f us in the library. I used the 2000 presidential election as an example of the latest news in m any media that our li­ braries would capture for history. Then came the attack, and those words about libraries and the election seem ed trivial. Reversing Marx, history moved from farce to tragedy. All o f us these past weeks have won­ dered about many things. We have been at meetings, we have gone about our work, w e have chatted w ith friends, w e have walked across the campus in the early morn­ ing sunlight— and in all o f these ordinary moments o f life, w e have felt that they were somehow unreal, that the foundation o f life, o f the good things in life, was gone. Some said, “Welcome to the new century.” It be­ gan on September 11 in Lower Manhattan. For a while, death and destruction m ay have made many o f us feel that the w ork we do is somehow irrelevant; not worth the attention and value w e give it. That, we know, is wrong. Terrorists last week tried to destroy our w ay o f life by taking lives. We mourn, but life goes on and must go on. The w ork o f the library becomes more meaningful, more important. Libraries are the most humane o f human institutions; the opposite o f terrorist cells. Libraries are gentle, benevolent. They celebrate the best o f what we are. True, they do contain the history o f human folly and o f human evil, as they will contain the history o f recent weeks. Terror­ ism is one o f the most inhumane and un­ civilized o f all acts. But capturing the his­ tory o f it— like capturing the history o f all we humans do (good and bad)— is one of the most humane and civilized o f activities. It allows us to remember, to learn, and to pass on that memory and learning to new generations. Memory and learning are two o f the most cherished o f human abilities. In the midst of our sadness we must remember that. The terror attack tore our world apart, but it also connected us to many people we did not know. “Only connect.” Never forget. We will preserve the connections and the memories. http://www.ala.org/ mailto:ssherrod@ala.org