In a 2018 CBC interview, Wendy Mesley asked Jordan Peterson, then at the zenith of his celebrity, what he thought lay ahead for him. Peterson responded with his typical gloomy realism: I dont know whats next, really. The overwhelming likelihood, as far as Im concerned, and its been this way since September of 2016, is that this will go terribly wrong. Its too much, eh? Its been too much for a long time. Im surfing a hundred-foot wave and generally what happens if you do that is you drown.

Peterson surely meant the words metaphorically, suggesting that the publics interest in him would wane as rapidly as it had escalated. But in retrospect, the words too much and drown acquire an ominous prescience.

In a recent YouTube video, Petersons daughter, Mikhaila, summarized her familys past year of absolute hell. In dealing with anxiety, Jordan Peterson developed an addiction to a benzodiazepine (commonly known as benzos, this category of drugs includes Ativan, Serax, Klonopin, Xanax and Valium, amongst others), which led to numerous unbearable side effects, notably akathisia, an irresistible restlessness thats so maddening, it led to suicidal ideation.

It is unfortunate that it often takes the publicity surrounding a famous persons tragedy to jump-start a national discussion, but if ever there was a moment to shine a light on the scandal of decades of overprescription of benzos, this is it.

Janet Currie, a PhD candidate in the University of British Columbias School of Nursing, is a Canadian researcher and educator with long-time concerns over the safety and use of psychiatric drugs. She has no ties to any pharmaceutical companies, so her research is entirely independent. Before consulting her personally, I read Curries paper for the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Womens Health, titled Manufacturing Addiction: The over-prescription of benzodiapezines and sleeping pills to women in Canada, which contains many sobering facts and statistics. Although published in 2003, Currie said the paper requires no material updates.

The first benzos were called tranquillizers and were marketed in the 1960s as a safe and effective alternative to barbiturates. But after only one year of availability, the first report in the medical literature describing their addictive nature was published, according to Curries report.

There is an elephant in the mental-health room that seems curiously invisible.

Currie notes that it is estimated that up to 15 per cent of adults may be using benzos; of them, up to 65 per cent are women. The majority of people who take these drugs at recommended dosages will become dependent on them, and of them, most will experience difficulties withdrawing from the drugs. Canadian and international studies indicate that 20 to 50 per cent of all women over 60 may be prescribed benzos or sleeping pills and that long-term use increases with age. A strong link has been established between falls in elderly women and drugs, of which 90 per cent are benzodiapezines, according to the report. In 2000, one in three status Aboriginal women over 40 in Western Canada were prescribed benzodiazepines.

I put a number of questions to Currie in an email exchange. Was Petersons story an outlier? Not really, she said, there are many stories like it. Most people do not know that benzos should be prescribed for a maximum of a few weeks. What Peterson experienced was a prescribing cascade, in which the withdrawal symptoms are not associated with the benzos, so more drugs are prescribed with even more deleterious effects.

Petersons desperation trip to Russia is understandable, Currie told me, because there is a serious lack of physicians (in Canada) who are willing to do tapers and no accessible community-based resources where people can get help. Tapering, the process of slowly weaning a person off a drug, can take months or years. By the way, Currie added, benzos are also sold on the street and widely used by heroin addicts and alcoholics.

Have there been lawsuits, I asked, and if so, what were the results? Currie responded that its difficult to go up against a big drug company, though some have tried. She cited the case of Joan Gadsby, a municipal official in B.C., who, following her young sons death from brain cancer, was prescribed benzos that led to addiction and multiple harrowing side effects. She sued her doctor, but lost the case and all her retirement savings. After interviewing thousands of stakeholders, however, Gadsby became an expert on the subject. Currie recommends her book, Addiction by Prescription.

The most significant attempt at legal redress was a years-long U.K. class-action lawsuit that was undertaken through Britains Legal Aid Funding Plan and involved 14,000 patients and 1,800 lawyers. It failed because legal aid couldnt handle the costs.

Canadians talk a lot about the need to address mental health issues openly and non-judgmentally. Thats good. But here is an elephant in the mental-health room that seems curiously invisible. Perhaps when Jordan Peterson is fully recovered and godspeed to him he will help to lead that discussion.

kaybarb@gmail.com Twitter.com/BarbaraRKay

More information on benzos and other psychiatric drugs can be found at psychmedaware.org.

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Barbara Kay: Jordan Peterson and the deadly overprescription of benzos - National Post

Dr. Jordan B. Petersons personal troubles are celebrated by his detractors. After his daughter, Mikhaila Peterson, opened up about the difficulties her father faced during this past year, a torrent of ill-wishes were released to social media.

A data scientist, engineer and social justice activist had this to say: do I think he deserves sympathy despite him not extending it to others? Also no.

Do I think Jordan Peterson deserves a pass on his bigotry because he's suffering? No.

But do I think he deserves dignity despite his situation being a product of views that he profits from? No.

But do I think he deserves sympathy despite him not extending it to others? Also no. Pronoun Enforcer (@EmilyGorcenski) February 8, 2020

Petersons legacy is evident in just how many people have been helped by his work. His message is simple, to take charge of yourself and your life, to avoid being controlled by aimless desire, and if you dont know where to start, begin by cleaning your room.

A professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa also prefers to show no sympathy. Heres hoping he doesnt teach ethics.

#KARMA Jordan Peterson, oracle to gullible young men, preacher of macho toughness, and hectoring bully to snowflakes, is addicted to strong drugs and his brain riddled with neurological damage.

He deserves as much sympathy as he showed others. https://t.co/a0lHWZlqrX Amir Attaran (@profamirattaran) February 8, 2020

Petersons message is one that so many who hear it can relate to, and hes travelled the world speaking to sold-out audiences. His views are rooted in western ideas, stem from our most ancient myths and legends, and embrace the Christian hero story of self-sacrifice as the ultimate strength.

A writer for the Toronto Guardian had this to say.

But wait a second, I thought an all meat diet and toxic masculinity was the key to a happy life

This man is a complete fraud. While I wish no ill will on anyone, Jordan Peterson will always be an idiot's genius. #cdnmedia https://t.co/RW13WxCYpj Neil Before Zod (@WaytowichNeil) February 8, 2020

Some guy with the Twitter username im nice who fancies himself a comedian had this to say:

jordan petersons method for living the perfect life works great unless anything bad ever happens to you at which point you develop the worst benzo habit of all time and end up being kidnapped by your daughter and experimented on in a russian prison im nice (@Lowenaffchen) February 8, 2020

Peterson has been vilified by detractors in media and the public at large about as much as he has been praised. The reasons behind this are that people dont like to hear that relativism is not the best way to live life. People who are mired in our contemporary driving philosophy of meaninglessness, that no one way to live is better than any other, that no one choice is a better or worse choice than another, dont want to listen to someone who says that the hard work of life is worth doing.

I'd like to come out as a big fan of @jordanbpeterson. Not only has he helped and inspired countless young men, but he inspired me to start writing after an 11-year hiatus. He re-tweeted and shared my articles on social media and even sent me an email of support. I owe him a lot. https://t.co/7PlR8E6C62 Kathrine Jebsen Moore (@JebsenMoore) February 9, 2020

Yet a podcaster, community organizer, and author from Quebec City wishes eternal damnation on Jordan Peterson.

I hope for years of hell in perpetua for Jordan Peterson. Nora Loreto (@NoLore) February 8, 2020

Peterson says that the idea that we should accept ourselves as we are is misguided, because at our core, were all probably monsters. He brings up the genocides and massacres of the 20th century as proof, invoking the memoirs of concentration camp guards to show that any of us are capable of the most horrific of human actions. None of us are safe from our own worst, or best, impulses. He holds us all accountable to ourselves, to each other, and to the people we love. He speaks about marriage as a relationship that must be nurtured and tended, not abandoned. Peterson recommends that you dont let your kids turn into unlikeable children.

Not everyone wished him harm, and some pushed back.

Through podcasts, books, speaking engagements, interviews, and YouTube videos, he talks about how essential it is that we each take on our own heros journey. He brings up the legend of King Arthurs knights, recommending that we must seek our journey in the dark placemeaning we must face our fears, not so that we can overcome them, but so that we can know that we are afraid and act bravely in the face of those fears. One very real place where this approach can be made is in the face of addiction. There is perhaps nothing more difficult than kicking an addiction that has you in its teeth.

You are shockingly petty and pathetic. Gloating over a man's struggle to overcome physical dependency to medication that was prescribed to him to cope with his wife's terminal cancer diagnosis is absolutely disgraceful. https://t.co/3HICCozHRi

On addiction and physical dependence, Peterson can speak from experience. That he has this understanding makes his message that much stronger. How trite it is to hear from a teetotaller who has never touched a drop that we should give up the hard stuff. Where it has more power is coming from someone who has been there before us, whether theyve beaten the addiction or not.

Those who criticise Peterson the most, have always been those who need his advice the most

It's easy to throw stones.

It's easy to nitpick.

It's easy to kick a man when he is down.

Cowards.

It's hard to have a positive impact on millions of people.

Be good buckos ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) February 8, 2020

The calls for Petersons head on a spike came from the contemporary left, which is a movement that mirrors the heavy-handed vitriol that we used to see with the late 20th century right. This moralistic grandstanding on a foundation based entirely on narcissistic pleasure principles is eating itself. An ideology that purports to care for others only cares for those who adhere to the ideology. There is a growing intolerance for disagreement.

When I read some of the responses to Jordan Petersons illness, Im reminded why the Left has become so commonly associated with a lack of compassion, tolerance and basic human empathy.

We on the Left need to get our own house in order. These people are seriously fucking it up. pic.twitter.com/VRprW729G5

Petersons struggle to overcome benzodiazepines is so incredibly humanizing and real. It shows us that, in many ways, he is right. We are all capable of losing control, even those among us who are so great at guiding us how not to. Petersons all too human struggle can give the rest of us strength to know that we are not alone in ours. The identitarian, intolerant left could do well to face its demons, just as Peterson is facing his.

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EXCLUSIVE: Update on the health of Dr. Jordan B. Peterson - The Post Millennial

Kick em when theyre down, is a nasty way to live and it says more about the one doing the kicking than the kicked.

Consider reaction to the travails of controversial figures Rush Limbaugh and Jordan Peterson.

American talk show host Rush Limbaugh has always been a lightning rod. Controversy is his game. Perhaps you are familiar with him and hate everything he stands for.

No doubt you can find many examples of when Rush went over the line. I can, and I am a fan. Go ahead and argue his positions and criticize his mistakes.

But immediately upon his announcement that he has advanced lung cancer, supposedly reasonable and caring people cheered the disease.

Emmy nominated writer Arash Amel tweeted, F Limbaugh. Hope he dies. Enough of this we go high s.

He is right; he didnt go high. Amel went as low as he thinks Rush is.

Justin Lecea, a candidate for the Democratic nomination to run for Congress wrote, I will hold a party to celebrate when Rush Limbaugh begins exploring the past tense. God speed to hell you hypocritical f.

It is absolutely fair to argue strenuously against anything any commentator says, even to hate their ideas. Wishing for cancer to win displays darkness in the soul, doesnt it?

Travis Sarandos, who teaches English at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, tweeted that he hopes Rush Limbaugh dies a painful death from cancer.

Meanwhile clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson author of the international bestseller 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos announced dependence on an anti-anxiety drug he had been prescribed after his wifes cancer diagnosis.

While we increasingly worry about the prescribing of addicting drugs, that caring view was not one some felt for Peterson.

Professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa Amir Attaran tweeted, Jordan Peterson, oracle to gullible young men, preacher of macho toughness, and hectoring bully to snowflakes, is addicted to strong drugs and his brain is riddled with neurological damage. #KARMA.

See? Peterson deserved it. This from a man employed to teach.

Writing in Psychology Today, Dr. Johnathan N. Stea said, But irrespective of your views on Peterson, it is a gross disservice to everyone to perpetuate harmful myths about people who seek mental health and addiction-related treatment. The fact that the hostility directed towards Peterson has manifested as this type of stigma is a clear indictment against our cultural milieu.

Nora Loreto who describes herself as Canadas least obnoxious writer, wrote, I hope for years of hell in perpetua for Jordan Peterson.

(I am not sure perpetua is a word. Perpetua was an early Christian martyr.)

Dont get me wrong. A quick search on Google is likely to find examples of people on the right visiting the same sort of hatred on left-leaning figures when they were down. This isnt a one-sided argument; it is just the current one.

Twitter is a cesspool minute by minute, but when hatred toward a suffering person spews from educators, politicians and the media, we are in a bad place.

We only truly believe in free speech if we defend that of those with whom we most disagree.

We truly have compassion when we have sympathy for a fellow human beings suffering, even when that person is one whose views we find abhorrent.

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AGAR: The awful responses to Rush Limbaugh and Jordan Peterson - Toronto Sun

Rebel Media owner Ezra Levant hosted a Calgary townhall meeting in October, 2019. He asked those in attendance if Alberta should become the 51ststate. The room responded overwhelmingly, No. A Research Co. Study found that only 22 per cent of Albertans say their province would be better off as an American state. In contrast, 40 per cent of Albertansbelieve the province would be better off as its own country. In short, those Albertans ready to cut the chord with Ottawa do not want to reconnect it with Washington.

There are many reasons both social and political for this lack of enthusiasm. But leaving the maple leaf for the star-spangled banner merits consideration.

The economic benefits of becoming the fifty-first state are impressive. Albertans would save a huge sum of money if they no longer propped up the rest of Canada. The no-more-pipelines bill (C-69), the tanker ban (C-48), and the carbon tax would no longer hamper Albertas economy. The U.S. has no GST, and no direct equalization transfers.

Americas 327 million person-strong market is ten times the size of Canadas, and unlike Canada, they have much stronger internal free trade. Greater market access would be a boon, making it easier to diversify Albertas economy. There would also be increased access to global markets.The U.S. is the largest market for oil on the planet and has the largest concentration of refineries capable of handling Albertas heavy crude. Labour mobility would improve, and the strong U.S. dollar purchases far more than weak Canadian currency, which is artificially devalued to prop up Eastern manufacturing interests.

Less critical[KS1]but still important would be cheap gasoline and dairy, and access to U.S. Netflix and television without the CRTC shoving subsidized, amateurish CBC and can-con down our throats.

The U.S. carries a massive debt, but it is still slightly smaller per capita than Canadas on a combined federal-state/provincial basis. As of 2017, the United States had a public debt-to-GDP ratio of 82.3 per cent, and Canada, 89.7 per cent. Both countries continue to spend far beyond their means and force future generations to pay, but neither country has a material advantage on this front.

Critics of independence claim that a national Alberta would be landlocked. While this isfar from trueif Alberta can secure free trade agreements,union with the United States would guarantee that this was not the case with their greater protections for internal free trade.

While Washington does indirectly transfer some wealth from prosperous to less prosperous states, wealthier Americans [KS2][DF3]like wealthier Canadians pay more in federal taxes than others. So, while Washington does move money around, it does not do so as directly or as aggressively as does Ottawa. Right now, Alberta pays $20 billion net more than it receives back from Ottawa every year, representing the largest regional transfer of wealth in per capita terms in the Western World.

Suffice it to say, Alberta is the only consistent net contributor to the rest of Canada, but its votes count for less per capita than the rest of the country. The result of Albertas lackluster national influence is a federal government that plunders its wealth, while simultaneously working to stop it from generating that wealth.

Alberta with twice the population of all four Atlantic provinces has not quite half the Senators of tiny New Brunswick. As a state, Alberta would have equal representation with New York and California in the Senate. Importantly, Alberta would have influential allies such as Texas.

In Canada, the Conservatives can take Alberta for granted, while the Liberals ignore Alberta outright. In the U.S., Alberta would likely be a coveted swing-state, like Florida and Ohiowith both major parties falling over themselves for electoral support.

It is likely that Alberta would be welcomed as a U.S. state.Alberta has the third largest oil reserve on the planet, a world-leading GDP, and an educated workforce. While Alberta is Canadas most conservative province, it would be ideologically in the centre of American politics, and therefore would not represent a threat to either the Republicans or Democrats.

Geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan said that if Alberta ever applied for U.S. statehood, he would be stunned if more than a handful of people in Congress object.

Staying under the boot of Ottawa is no longer an option for any self-respecting Albertan, and independence is the preferred option for sentimental reasons. But joining the United States could be the more pragmatic route to a positive future. The U.S. has a long history of successfully integrating new territories: the Louisiana Purchase, Hawaii, and Alaska to name a few.

Trump recently offered to buy Greenland, not just to increase Americas geographic reach, but to build his legacy. It is conceivable that Americans might want to buy Alberta. By this, I mean: would the U.S. be willing to pay off Albertas provincial and share of the federal debt in return for joining?

As difficult as it is for many Albertans to wrap their minds around independence, it is understandably even more difficult to countenance joining our southern neighbors; but when we set sentimentality aside, its a proposal that we should consider on its merits.

Tessa Littlejohn is a Columnist for the Western Standard

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LITTLEJOHN: Ricky Gervais & Jordan Peterson are the Socrates of 2020 - Western Standard

Public libraries are more than just places to rent out a few books. Between offering different classes and hosting events, public libraries are a major resource for those that know how to use it to their advantage.

Rockford Public Library's new location on N Wyman St. is waiting for the go ahead from the City Council according to WTVO. The new library will have a drive through book drop off, learning laboratories, and a riverfront plaza for people to sit outside and enjoy their book.

Although it's still in the early planning stages, Rockford library Board of Trustees VP Jamie Getchius believes construction will begin by 2021. The Rockford City Council will meet later this month to vote on the three plot plan for the location.

The new library isn't just good for Rockford residents who use their services, it's also beneficial for the surrounding businesses as well. More foot traffic for the library will hopefully bring in some to the businesses in the area as well. Projects like these are part of the reason why Rockford was named 1 of 17 downtowns making a comeback in the USA.

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Rockford Public Library Closer To Moving To Riverfront Location - q985online.com

CHICAGO The Chicago Public Library is looking for a maker.

The maker-in-residence will be paid $6,000 for a three-month residency where they will use the librarys Maker Lab to combine art, science and technology to explore library collections, local data, history or culture, according to the library.

The Maker Lab includes 3-D printers, laser cutters, electronic cutters and digital design software.

The maker will have their work exhibited at Harold Washington Library and another library before being returned. The person will also give a presentation on what they created.

Those interested in the residency must have experience with digital design and fabrication, according to the library. The maker-in-residence will have to spend at least 10 hours per week for 12 weeks in the Maker Lab.

Those interested can apply online.

A daily dose of neighborhood news delivered to your inbox every morning.

A daily dose of neighborhood news delivered to your inbox every morning.

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Chicago Public Library Wants To Pay You $6K To Create In Its 'Maker Lab' - Block Club Chicago

Waste and recycling service provider, Veolia, is backing Library of Things which is helping to boost skills in London with repair workshops to cut waste electronics and textiles.

Why buy when you can fix? Thats the message from Veolia and Library of Things which have teamed up to boost Londons skill-sharing economy and combat its unsustainable throwaway culture.

Crystal Palace Library of Things is a place where you can borrow useful things like drills, gazebos and carpet cleaners at affordable prices and learn how to use them. Supported by Veolias Recycling Fund for Communities, Library of Things in Crystal Palace will now also deliver six repair workshops and 10 mending meet-ups during 2020.

The sessions will equip residents with the skills to fix broken electronics and mend textiles, so they can carry on using them, rather than throwing them away.

Accessible to residents from all over London, the scheme is expected to upskill over 350 residents throughout the year and reduce 300kg of waste from being produced.

The workshops will connect residents with skilled volunteers who will work with residents to repair electronic and textile items. Veolias recycling experts will also attend events to share advice and tips on being sustainable.

Rachel Jay, Regional Communications Manager for Veolia London said: Were passionate about supporting projects that protect our resources and our planet by reducing, reusing and recycling.

"By supporting Library of things skill sharing events, were helping to give residents the tools to adopt sustainable waste behaviours, and deliver lasting benefits to the environment.

Rebecca Trevalyan, Co-Director of Crystal Palace Library of Things added: Were delighted Veolia is helping us to develop the repair events weve started with the Crystal Palace community. To date, Library of Things has prevented over 15,900 kilograms of waste through such events, and through our item lending service.

"Participants tell us they use Library of Things because it helps them save money, but increasingly because they want to live in a more environmentally-friendly way too.

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Veolia Backing Helping Library of Things Cut Textile and E-Waste in Crystal Palace - Waste Management World

On Feb. 1, just an ordinary Friday, Jim Stewart checked a box of fresh donations.

Only it wasnt an ordinary Friday, because four of the books left by an anonymous donor outside the Riford Librarys Friends of La Jolla Library (FOLL) Bookstore were signed by their author.

That would be Samuel Clemens, more popularly known as Mark Twain.

Something like that will happen once a year or so, said Stewart, the former assistant head master at Gillispie School who, for the past three years, has volunteered as FOLLs manager.

Established at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library many years before the Riford opened in 1989 as the main La Jolla branch FOLL has grown into a full-service bookstore with thousands of constantly cycling books, DVDs and magazine titles.

As customers take from the shelves, the empty spaces are filled by new product stocked in a back office thats always either manned or locked. Here, hundreds of new weekly donations are sorted, cleaned and priced by 21 volunteers, each of whom has a knowledge specialty.

Mine is hardcover fiction, humor, foreign language, short story, poetry and drama, said La Jolla resident Karla Farley, who has volunteered here for two years. I love it because its the bookstore I always wanted to have. I love books, so thats the first thing. But I also like the idea of someone saying, Do you have any books by so-and-so? and being able to find them.

As Farley finished her thought, Casa de Manana resident Pat Canan, an occasional customer, walked in as a donor instead. He dropped off a book about number theory.

It was an old textbook from a long time ago, he explained. I kept it all these years because I thought Id want to refresh. But not anymore.

Volunteer Jim Stewart holds open one book in a 15-volume Mark Twain set recently donated to the library by an anonymous donor.

(COREY LEVITAN)

Youre not likely to find a treasure on these shelves that will change your tax bracket. Those are separated from the herd before the books see the publicly displayed shelves. (Stewart immediately sent the four signed Clemens books to PBA Galleries, a Berkeley-based rare-book appraiser and auctioneer, for their opinion.)

If theres a chance that its a book of significant value, well do research, Farley said. Well check on eBay and some of the auction sites, and if thats the case, Jim will try to sell it online.

However, FOLLs prices are garage-sale good. (Three random books selected by the Light sold for $1 each the most common pricetag while selling on Amazon for an average of $8 each.)

Later, Susan McLeod (another Casa de Manana resident) entered the FOLL office with four purchases: The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst (for her granddaughter), Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations by Judith Viorst (for her daughter), Carnegies Maid by Marie Benedict (for her book club), and A Man of Parts: A Novel by David Lodge (just for her).

Her grand total: $3.50.

Even at these low prices, FOLL was able to raise $45,852 last year for the Riford and 32 other San Diego Library branches. (About half of that is matched by the City of San Diego, Stewart said, sometimes doubling the total.) All proceeds raised by all friends of bookstores are distributed equally to all branches.

We want to make sure that money is going to other libraries, too, Stewart explained, because San Ysidro might not have the resources that La Jolla does.

Any books that cant be sold either due to their condition when they first arrive or to being on FOLLs shelves too long are donated to the VA hospital, where they are given out free to patients.

As this interview drew to a close, Stewart expressed second thoughts about having revealed his bookstores Mark Twain jackpot.

Now the donors are going to see your article and go, Oh my God, look at what we gave them, he said.

Except that the Light noticed the date printed on the remaining unsigned books from the same published Samuel Clemens collection: 1917. Unless the author famous for writing reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated was able to sign his name seven years after he died, the donor neednt feel that bad.

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Friends of La Jolla Library Bookstore has discounts that are bound to please - La Jolla Light

CARMEL On Monday Ashlee Wright had to detour around a series of plywood walls in Carmels Harrison Memorial Library to get to a temporary check-out counter. And she couldnt be happier.

Wright, the library director, is overseeing a $372,000 upgrade that when completed will provide the community with a long-sought-after community meeting room.

Construction began last week on the most extensive renovation the library has seen in decades. The project is being funded entirely through donations, Wright said. The only involvement the city of Carmel has is in providing project management.

Carmel is a community that likes to read, Wright said, herself having been introduced to the love of reading by her mother in the same library.

The numbers bear out the support the library receives and the services it provides. The library is home to 60,000 books and roughly 104,000 items, mostly books and DVDs, are checked out annually. Add to that some 37,000 uses of digital resources such as eBooks and research links and the library quickly becomes an important part of the Carmel community, as well as a regional source of local history.

The new room will be reconfigured as an enclosed space that will serve as a community meeting place. It will be home to several library programs and serve as an after-school study area.

There have been attempts in the past to create a gathering place but they were never accomplished, Wright said. There have been a lot of requests by the public for such a meeting place, including a number of book clubs that have been asking.

The Carmel Public Library Foundation has been key to the success of the library, Wright said. While the city pays for eight full-time staff members and maintenance, 100% of the books, materials, programs, equipment and services are provided by the foundation through donations.

Wright pointed to Lacy Williams Buck as a key financial supporter of the library community. Buck, a Carmel native, had a childhood experience similar to Wrights.

As a child, she would study in the library, Wright said. She funded our history room and was excited about helping to fund the new gathering place. Lacy is one of the kindest people.

Few communities of some 4,000 residents can boast they have two library branches. In addition to the Harrison Memorial Library, the Carmel Public Library also includes the Park Branch Library, which contains the local history archives, childrens books and resources and the librarys administrative offices.

Original construction on the Harrison Memorial Library was completed in 1928, but library services date back even farther.

Library resources in Carmel date back to 1906, the date of the great San Francisco earthquake, when the Carmel Free Library Association began lending books from a little redwood building in the village. For a fee of $1 per year, people could borrow any one of 500 books from the Associations Reading Room heated by a wood-burning stove. A fireplace is still a part of the librarys interior.

The library was named after Ralph Harrison, a California Supreme Court justice who, in 1896, was named president of the San Francisco Public Library.

Jumping ahead a century, Wright recalls visiting her grandparents in Carmel when she was a teen and always making the library a destination. Even when she was finishing up her graduate degree in library sciences, Wright said she knew she would be back to the library in Carmel.

It embodies the essence of a library, she said. It retains its feeling as a library. You can feel it when you walk in, like the building had bones.

Now, some of those bones are getting a well-deserved upgrade.

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Construction starts on Carmel library renovation - Monterey Herald

Indigenous and Hispanic Programs Featured Among Content from Five Contributing Organizations

Two-Year Digitization Project funded with $485,000 grant from The Council on Library and Information Resources

BOSTON (February 11, 2020) New Mexico PBS (NMPBS) and The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) announced today a collaborative effort to digitize, preserve and make accessible historic television and radio programs produced by New Mexico public media organizations. The resulting online collection, which dates back 50 years, will be rescued from deteriorating and obsolete formats. The programs will showcase the richness and complexity of New Mexicos social, political, cultural and artistic landscape, with content by and about underrepresented topics and communities, including New Mexicos indigenous and Hispanic populations. The two-year New Mexico Public Media (NMPM) Digitization Project is made possible by a $485,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Were delighted to be able to make this treasure trove of New Mexico history and culture, produced by public media organizations from all corners of the state, available to all, said NMPBS General Manager and CEO Franz Joachim. We are confident scholars, journalists, educators, and anyone with an interest in New Mexicos rich and multicultural society will find inspiration in this newly accessible and searchable online resource.

The New Mexico public media collection provides an in-depth record of New Mexicos diverse political, social, cultural and artistic life in program series, documentaries and special event programs. The collection consists of programs produced between 1970 and 2018 by five New Mexico radio and television broadcasters: NMPBS; KRWG (PBS) in southwestern New Mexico; KENW (PBS) in eastern New Mexico; KUNM (FM) at the University of New Mexico; and KANW (FM) in Albuquerque, in collaboration with David G. Griffin, Griffin and Associates. Largely unseen and unheard since they were first broadcast, the programs currently risk deterioration on obsolete formats such as fragile 1, beta, and cassette audio tape.

These programs will be the first contributed from New Mexico to the AAPB, a collaboration between the Library of Congress and Boston public media producer WGBH. Over the course of the digitization project, NMPBS, KUNM, KENW, KRWG, and KANW in collaboration with David G. Griffin, Griffin and Associates will provide digitized copies of nearly 9,000 programs to be preserved in the Library of Congress. Many of these will be made accessible online by WGBH on the AAPB website at americanarchive.org. All will be available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress and WGBH.

Were excited to welcome a fantastic collection to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and to serve as its digital home, said Karen Cariani, the David O. Ives Executive Director of WGBH Media Library and Archives. From a Peabody award-winning documentary about the Pueblo peoples, to the history of nuclear weapons development, to Spanish-language radio, the New Mexico Public Media Digitization Project offers a unique cross section of New Mexicos growth, diversity, science and culture for all to explore.

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About New Mexico PBS Celebrating over 60 years of service, NMPBS (KNME & KNMD-TV) serving New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, broadcasts a wide array of nature, history, current affairs, health, performance, children's, educational and entertainment programs. NMPBS produces NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS, COLORES! and a variety of specials. NMPBS operates 5 digital broadcast channels: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 9.1, and 9.2. NMPBS is co-licensed to the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). http://www.nmpbs.org Get Updates, Watch, and Follow New Mexico PBS on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram & More! https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoPBS http://twitter.com/NMPBS http://www.youtube.com/user/newmexicopbs https://www.instagram.com/nmpbs

About the American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and the WGBH Educational Foundation to coordinate a national effort to preserve at-risk public media before its content is lost to posterity and provide a central web portal for access to the unique programming that public stations have aired over the past 70 years. To date, over 100,000 digital files of television and radio programming contributed by more than 100 public media organizations and archives across the United States have been preserved and made accessible for long-term preservation and access. The entire collection is available on location at the Library of Congress and WGBH, and more than 51,000 files are available online at americanarchive.org.

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New Mexico's Historic Public Television and Radio Programs to be Preserved by Statewide Partnership and The American Archive of Public Broadcasting -...