I read with great interest the op-ed and letters regarding the firing of librarians at Western Illinois University and why this will have a negative impact (“Voice of the People,” Aug. 26) and (“This is why it matters that Western Illinois University fired all its librarians,” Aug. 20).
Librarians also play vital roles furthering the education of students who attend Chicago’s public schools.
Librarians can contribute to students’ success in a number of ways. They can coach students preparing for an academic decathlon and promote classroom enrichment by working with their fellow teachers and guiding their students when they need to do research for their Chicago history and science fair projects. They can teach the difference between primary and secondary sources, show students how to access available literature, and demonstrate the importance of archives and databases through the use of innovative technologies. Students might be more tech-savvy these days, but they still need guidance from trained professionals when it comes to doing research for comprehensive projects that will have to compete at the local, state and national level.
Librarians can forge partnerships with outside organizations such as Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and with the Art Institute of Chicago to encourage the love of the arts with students actively engaging in presentations depicting the importance of art throughout American and world history. Also, in line with the mandate that the Holocaust and others examples of genocide be taught in Illinois schools, librarians can work with other teachers and facilitate visits to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
Librarians can make contact with different racial and ethnic communities who can send representatives to the schools encouraging a dialogue and an appreciation of other cultures and identities and can assist students with meaningful service projects and help with the formation of after school book clubs which will further enhance the love of reading.
Finally, librarians can be asked to seek, write and complete grant applications offered by public, private and professional organizations. Successful grant writing can help fund libraries and other academic needs benefiting students who will need to successfully confront a variety of challenges in a very competitive world.
— Larry Vigon, Chicago
Dishonor roll
The dishonor roll in Sunday’s Tribune should not be a surprise to lifelong Chicagoans or those who pay attention to what’s happening in the city (Aug. 25). More names will be added. The culture of corruption will continue, because voters will continue to elect them. And I have two questions
How many were and are Democrats?
How many were endorsed by the Tribune?
— F. Rajski-Dzuryak, River Forest
Chicago makes history
Congratulations for your outstanding editorial assessing the multiple successes of last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago (“Chicago and the Democrats both rebranded together in a dazzling show of DNC strength,” Aug. 25). Through the leadership of Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, the City of Chicago showed the world what those of us who live in Chicagoland already know: that Chicago is one of the greatest American cities to have ever existed.
You are correct: Chicago had one of best weeks in its history!
If Illinois gave Abraham Lincoln to the nation and to the world in the 19th Century, and if Illinois became the birthplace of Ronald Reagan in the 20th Century, without a doubt Chicago demonstrated with flying colors last week that the state of Illinois will continue to be a prominent American political epicenter throughout the rest of the 21st Century, not only for giving the nation in 2008 its first Black president, Barack Obama, but also for officially giving the country in 2024 the first female presidential nominee of color representing a major party.
And if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 presidential election and becomes the first woman president in the 246-year old history of the United States of America, it will be forever remembered that it was in the beautiful world-class City of Chicago that she accepted the official presidential nomination.
Let’s face it; at the end of the day, in spite of the politics of corruption and the corruption of politics in modern societies. No other American city was in a position in 2024 to embody the genuine promise of the future potential of a 21st-Century multi-racial and multi-gendered democracy from the American heartland.
Yes, there is always room for improvement; but the latter reality cannot and should not deny us either the recognition of our true successes or the commitment to right the wrongs and to learn from our mistakes, particularly as we move forward to make the city, the county, the state, the nation and the world a better place — especially for our children and our children’s children: the future of our society and our communities.
— Alejandro Lugo, Park Forest
‘Good old days’
Republicans want Americans to return to the “good old days”. I’d like to know what was so good for women back then?
Employers could refuse to hire women because of their gender as recently as 1964. Home sellers and real estate agents could refuse to sell a house to women up until 1974. In 1988 the law said landlords could no longer refuse to rent to women. Spousal rape wasn’t criminalized nationwide until 1993. In 1972 a woman couldn’t get a credit card or sign a mortgage without a man. Women did not have the right to vote up until the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 gave women the right to serve on federal juries, but it wasn’t until 1973 that all 50 states passed similar legislation.
Women could finally file for no-fault divorce in 1969 when California became the first state to legalize it. Ronald Reagan signed the legislation thus it became the law. Some Ivy League schools did not enroll women as recently as the 1970s and 1980s. And if a woman had an unwanted pregnancy she’d be out of luck until 1973’s Roe v Wade. Women work just as hard as the opposite sex, create businesses, serve in the Armed Forces, and toil in every facet of our economy. Do women want to return to those days when they were second class citizens? Vote in November.
— Sam Solomon, Deerfield
Funding for farmers
The article titled “Midwest farm delegation connects with shrimper, visits Gulf dead zone” was a very good article that provides a good layman’s read on the issue (Aug. 25). Cost share alone is not enough. Farmers rely on their local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for technical help to implement farm conservation. The challenge today is that during this past Illinois session, state operational funding for SWCDs was cut. Hopefully the legislators will rectify this shortfall, and in future years increase SWCD operational funding so they can hire more certified and dedicated resource technicians. With a robust delivery system, Illinois will be able to take advantage of all federal farm conservation grants.
— Dean Farr, Crystal Lake
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