Post: September 11 Programming

Posted by Bill Erbes on 5/13/06

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This is an invitation to participate in a totally free
event that will take place on September 11 and that will
be, I believe, of special interest to teachers and
librarians. As we are a public library in Illinois with
absolutely no budget to give this event the publicity it
deserves, we are hoping you will share the information
with anyone you think might have an interest.

On September 11, 2006, the Bensenville Community Public
Library District (a Chicago suburb) will present Marion
Blumenthal Lazan live and in real time to anyone with an
Internet connection. To participate, you merely install a
small program (it loads in about 20 seconds), turn on your
computer's speakers, then sit back and listen to Marion.
If you also have a microphone attached to your computer,
you will be able to speak with her and ask questions
directly.

As a girl, Marion and her family were trapped in Hitler's
Germany, and they spent six and a half years in refugee
and concentration camps, including Westerbork in Holland
and Bergen-Belsen in Germany. They were in a cattle car
on their way to Auschwitz when they were finally liberated
by Russian troops.

Now in her seventies, Marion is devoting the rest of her
life to telling her story. She knows that in a few years
there will be no Holocaust survivors left, yet what
happened must never be forgotten. Her story does not
dwell on the horror of what she experienced. Instead, her
message is one of hope and optimism in the face of
extraordinary hardship. She implores us to be kind to one
another, to embrace diversity, to always retain hope, to
respect one another, and to never look away from
intolerance and cruelty. Could there be a more powerful
or appropriate message on September 11?

Marion will speak to the children of the world on
September 11, 2006, at 2:00 p.m., eastern time. She will
speak for about 30 minutes, and she will then take
questions. She will be speaking in an online auditorium,
and there is no charge whatsoever to listen. Our hope is
that thousands of children and their teachers will spend
that hour on September 11 with Marion. She will tell a
story of courage, hope, and the will to survive. Your
students (and you) will be mesmerized and inspired.

For more information, including directions for registering
for the program and logging onto the website where the
online auditorium is located, please just reply to this
message to: librariesremember@yahoo.com or to:
billerbes@yahoo.com and we will respond with the
information. You may also look at:
www.librariesremember.net
for more information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them
to me, Bill Erbes, billerbes@yahoo.com, and I will do my
best to provide an answer.

We believe there will be much interest in this event if
only we can get the word out that it will be happening.
Any help you can offer in spreading the message will be
most appreciated.

Thank you.

Bill Erbes
Assistant Library Director
Bensenville Community Public Library District
200 S. Church Road
Bensenville, IL 60106
(630) 766-4642

Libraries Remember

Posts on this thread, including this one

September 11 Programming, 5/13/06, by Bill Erbes.