By MICHAEL GEOFFRION SCANNELL
NORTH READING — Flint Memorial Library began displaying a series of fourteen 20”x30” posters commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, yesterday, September 1.
The posters will be on view through Wednesday, September 15 and were provided by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.
The posters are only part of the planning that has gone into this anniversary at the Flint Memorial Library, according to Library Director Sharon Kelleher.
“We had been talking about the importance of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks,” she said. “While the (library) building was closed during the beginning of the pandemic, staff spent time reorganizing the collection. While taking inventory of the local history room we discovered our previous reference librarian had stored away many magazines from the days/weeks after the attacks. We knew we wanted to display the magazines along with the numerous 20th anniversary books that were being published.”
She continued, “Our display had to be meaningful and contemplative, and it was important to get it right. When we found the program being offered through the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, we knew we had found the right way to honor and commemorate this day.”
The Flint has made several new additions to the collection in anticipation of the exhibit and anniversary of 9/11, Kelleher said, “We purchased several new publications for both youth and adult readers to supplement titles that already belonged to our collection.”
Among these titles are: “September 11: The 9/11 Story, Aftermath, and Legacy,” edited by The Associated Press, which is aimed at adults; “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11” by Joseph Pfeifer, also an adult title; “I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001,” by Lauren Tarshis, a children’s book.
“We will also be publishing a book list on our website that patrons of all ages can browse to find titles written about September 11th,” Kelleher said.
The director explained that the library houses materials that go beyond the day of the attacks. “We have books about Al Qaeda, the Bush Administration’s ‘War on Terror’ efforts and the resulting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Patriot Act and the rise of the surveillance state in America,” she said.
Tragedy hits close to home
Kelleher vividly remembers the day back in 2001. “Like so many people, I remember it being a bright, sunny morning. My 7-year-old was at school and my 3-year-old was home with me. Watching the ‘Today Show’ I will never forget the look on the host’s face as he realized the enormity of what was unfolding. Moments later my phone rang and I learned my friend’s sister was on Flight 11.”
When asked what the library staff hoped to accomplish with these displays and additional materials Kelleher responded, “We hope through this series of posters, visitors will have the opportunity to pause and reflect on the day that so profoundly changed our lives. The exhibition portrays the best and worst of humanity during one of the darkest events in modern American history.”
