Why a town librarian has spent 102 days standing in front of Ferguson’s police department | Toronto Star

MITCH POTTER / TORONTO STAR Order this photo

Angelique Kidd, 41, of Ferguson, is among most dedicated of protesters awaiting the verdict in the killing of black teen Michael Brown. The mother of two has been on the streets opposite the Ferguson Police Department nearly daily for the past 102 days, demanding change.

By: Mitch Potter Washington Bureau, Published on Tue Nov 18 2014

FERGUSON, MO.—She’s a mom, a librarian, a U.S. army vet, just like her dad. She belongs to a Ferguson book club that hasn’t met since police bullets felled Michael Brown in August.

Her 9-year-old daughter’s on the Ferguson swim team. Her husband, who builds in-ground pools for a living, is president of their neighbourhood community association. Together, they launched two local community gardens. This is home. They’re dug in, here for the long haul.

With a bio like that, Angelique Kidd, 41, admits she’s just about the last person you might expect to find on the picket line, standing vigil day in and day out for the past 102 days opposite the Ferguson Police Department, demanding change.

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School libraries are essential for learning

Masterman principal Marjorie Neff sits in the school's closed library, which was closed last year due to budget cuts. TOM GRALISH / Staff

POSTED: Monday, December 1, 2014, 1:07 AMBy Carol Heinsdorf

and Debra Kachel


In 1991, there were 176 certified librarians in Philadelphia public schools. This year there are 11 and only five are known to be actually doing what they were trained to do. Five librarians for the nation's eighth-largest school district.


Leaving Philadelphia's public school libraries without professional staffing is a grave mistake. It will have consequences for the students for the rest of their lives. Study after study shows a clear link between school libraries staffed by certified librarians and student achievement.

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You won’t believe what NYC museums keep in storage | New York Post

Collections Manager Carl Mehling helps manage the "Big Bone Room" beneath the American Museum of Natural History, which includes these long bones and other hidden treasures.Photo: Tamara Beckwith/NY Post

Apparently, you can have too much of a good thing — which explains why Lauren Bacall’s gowns, Beethoven’s death mask, a paddy wagon and a 68-million-year-old triceratops skull are all in storage.

It’s the typical New York bind: There’s never enough shelf space. Whether too big, too fragile or redundant — just how many triceratops skulls does one need to admire, anyway? — millions of cultural artifacts are kept under wraps. And no place seems to tuck away as many things as the American Museum of Natural History: Though it contains more than 32 million specimens and artifacts, only a measly 2 percent are on display at any one time. Read article...