Family Library

I have shared quite a bit about my thoughts and feelings over the turmoil going on in our country (and the world).  It has been good for me to hash through things with my friends and to mull over those discussions and ponder how to prepare my family for more unrest.  I tend to be a very tangible person that really likes "action" in the sense that I want to be able to "do" something, make plans, create order, have specific things/systems that I am creating...  One thing that I have been planning for quite awhile is putting in a cabinet bookshelf system where I can put our books and knick knacks behind doors/glass as a way of combating the dust that is our reality in country living in a wind tunnel.

I did a ton of research and finally decided on a set of Ikea shelving with glass on top and solid on the bottom.  It fit the space and was the cheapest option.  Unfortunately, they were sold out so we put our names on a list to be informed as soon as they came into the store.  When they did come in, we went up the same day to pick them up and they were nearly sold out!!!

In my mulling and pondering, I have been toying with the idea of putting together a family library.  The public library system has been closed for nearly a year, though I am still able to order and put books on reserve (though a bit of a toss up as to what I can get and when it will come in).  In particular, I want to maintain a good homeschool curriculum base K-high school, with an emphasis on History, classic literature, and Christian based books.  I have read about public school systems all over the nation pulling whatever is deemed offensive (like Mark Twain) and Christian publishing companies getting bad press for their conservative approach to education.  I just don't know how difficult it will be to get these things in the future.  

When you have school districts proposing the following (and yes, this is what is included in a draft to "reform" the history curriculum, in this case, in Minnesota).....

Omits:

  • The Pledge of Allegiance
  • The American flag
  • WWI
  • WWII
  • The Holocaust – including references to Nazis and Jews
  • Communism and Socialism
  • The American Revolution
  • George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
  • Civil War
  • The brave Minnesotans of the First Regiment who were first to answer Lincoln’s call for help.
  • Minnesota/Iron Range role during WWI and WWII
  • Minnesota’s response to global conflicts and displaced people since 1945

Replace

  • Systemic racism in the United States rooted in our founding
  • How freedom and democracy have included or excluded certain groups throughout our history
  • Develop a “respectful awareness” of the LGBTQ+ community
  • Gender Equality/Equity
  • Minnesota’s juvenile justice system and its evaluation on the impact on BIPOC communities
  • The Reconstruction period, specifically successful efforts to disenfranchise newly freed Black Americans and connecting this history to persistent discrimination and inequity in the present
  • An analysis of the ideology of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to whiteness, Christianity, and capitalism…
.....Then, it seems prudent to start collecting books for a family library that doesn't omit or rewrite history.

I spent a day with our piano teacher/dear friend who has an extensive book collection and discussed all this with her and went through her bookshelves talking about what books are a must have and what books might become hard to find.

With a list and a plan, I have started beefing up our family library.

Step one of family library was to pick up the shelving system and to do that, we need a drive up to Portland.  I was SHOCKED!  We used to love coming up to Portland and exploring 13th street, going to the Chinese Gardens, going to the museum, to OMSI, to the zoo....I am not sure I would ever intentionally set foot in Portland again.  If what I saw from the freeway is any indication of the rest of Portland, then the rioters and the refusal of the mayor and the governor to stop the destruction, the economy shut down, and the homeless population explosion has effectively killed Portland.  

All we did was take the freeway North and then East and this is what we saw....

City set up homeless camps

Garbage everywhere, even along steep embankments in more rural settings

Tents and shelters set up everywhere


Every bridge or place that could offer shelter, occupied


Graffiti covering every square inch of space





Just the freeway view was like the slums of a 3rd world country (and I have been in the slums in Kenya...Oregon is now starting to resemble that.)

After my shock at what has happened in my state, we came home to our little farm to put together the structures and plans that we have for our family and our life and our future.  It was a bit surreal experiencing the contrast.  
 











The aftermath is a disaster.  We moved out a lot of shelving and piles and messes and now I am left trying to figure out what to do with all of this stuff. 

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