But why?

A recent article in the Portland Press Herald described a new educational system of beliefs where books (and the humanities in general) are valued far less than "practical" methods of teaching. It seems that some schools in southern Maine consider teaching novels an ineffective way of helping Maine students become competitive in the new economic world.

The misunderstanding of the power of imaginative literature to educate and enlighten was simply astonishing. I read this perspective most recently in a Victorian novel in which the author tongue-in-cheek mocks the belief that books and stories were only good for "ladies" and had no purpose in a serious world. Could it be that any person who has ever read a novel thinks that books have no use in the real world?

For the past 30 years, the Maine Humanities Council has worked with the real world. One MHC program that has spread nationwide helps medical professionals better understand patients' experiences and lives, increasing empathy and improving care (the New York Times has printed many articles of late on the serious and terrifying problems, caused by misunderstanding or a lack of connection, in patient-physician relationships). Another MHC program works to educate childcare pro heritage">viders, who care for two-thirds of Maine's preschoolers, and are often without the education necessary to help them introduce children to positive learning experiences (studies by the National Academy of Sciences have proved it critical to exposure children ages zero through five to learning). One of our earliest programs was created to help small rural libraries become community centers and forums for meaningful discussion among a diversity of people (it bridges the gap in many cases between locals and summer residents, helping people who would not normally talk much in the street have thoughtful conversations and develop friendships). These programs have ambitious civic missions, and each uses the book (primarily its fictional form) as its medium.

Why the book? In 30 years, we've found it works best. Books help provide a neutral ground for discussion. Books also illuminate ideas and introduce readers to new kinds of people with backgrounds widely different from their own. Books form language skills. Books increase empathy, understanding, and imagination. And books are an easy way to introduce people to deep civic concepts because narrative is fun and people like to read.

In George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, Mr. Deane tells his 16-year-old nephew that to succeed in business he must not only to work hard but learn, be observant, notice all the things around him, and seek ways to apply his knowledge. In his lecture, Deane dismisses the value of all book learning in this pursuit (especially the study of Latin). This is characteristic of Eliot's wit, for this book itself seeks to share observations and broaden perspectives. Books go so far in helping people learn. Let's hope that Maine children subject to educational systems that no longer value the book sneak in some books on the side. Without learning like this, Maine's economy could be in serious trouble.

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A text from the new series

This fall, Let's Talk About It, the Maine Humanities Council's community discussion program, is presenting a series in Bar Harbor through both the Abbe Museum and the Jesup Memorial Library. This three-way partnership for the program is new, and the MHC is excited about having help from both of these organizations to present the series.

This series has a Native American theme and texts rich with the cultural history and magic realism that characterizes so much Native American literature. Participants will receive library books for reading and discussing and benefit from a scholar who will facilitate the discussions, which always leads to meaningful and interesting interactions.

The scholar for this series is Karen Waldron, currently a professor and the academic dean of College of the Atlantic. Karen's COA courses include Native American Literature; Literature, Science, Spirituality; Nineteenth Century American Women; City/Country: American Literary Landscapes 1860-1920; and African American Literature. Her approach is interdisciplinary, creative, and engaging (Karen has been known to write a single word on the blackboard — "body," for example — and ask her class to discuss how the text explores that idea). Her teaching style also accommodates both very active and very quiet members of the discussion.

Texts for this series include:

Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
      Fools Crow, James Welch
      Tracks, Louise Erdrich
      The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sherman Alexie
      The Sharpest Sight, Louis Owens

This series will be held on the following Wednesdays: September 14, September 21, October 5, October 19, November 2, and November 16, 2005. If you are interested in attending, contact Marie Yarborough at (207)288-3519 or educator@abbemuseum.org Let's Talk About It programs are free to the public. Books are on loan to participants in partnership with the Maine State Library.

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At noon on Thursday, September 22, 2005, the Maine Humanities Council will be presenting its Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. We are pleased to honor Neil Rolde for his extraordinary contributions to the interpretation of Maine history and his encouragement of the humanities in Maine. Luncheon tickets at $35 and if you are interested in attending, please contact the MHC at (207)773-5051 as soon as possible; our RSVP deadline is September 8.

On Thursday, September 29, 2005, the Maine Humanities Council will host a book party in our office (674 Brighton Avenue, Portland) in honor of David Richards and his new history Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age, 1860-1900 (see below for more information). Please contact the MHC at (207)773-5051 if you would like to attend, congratulate David in person, and get a signed copy of his book.

And then there's more: our standard list of grant-funded events. Check this out to see what's new in your area: Grant-Funded Events

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Just last month, University Press of New England published David L. Richards's Poland Spring: A Tale of the Gilded Age, 1860-1900. With a cultural backdrop, this book explores the growth of tourism in a small town.

University Press of New England writes:

Between 1860 and 1900, the Ricker family's rustic frontier farm became the world-renowned summer community of Poland Spring, Maine, a middle landscape where upper-middle-class patrons and their urban values of status, leisure, and consumption confronted, flirted with, embraced and ultimately subsumed traditional, rural New England. First and foremost a cultural study, Poland Spring chronicles the rise of a nineteenth-century tourist mecca. By successfully linking its fortunes to the railroad and tourism, Poland Spring became home to both a classic manifestation of the magnificent Victorian summer hotel culture of the Northeast, the Poland Spring House, and to the legendary business that originated one of the most popular and enduring brands in the mineral water marketplace, the eponymous Poland Spring.

This complex story represents a fascinating microcosm of the blossoming of the vacation trade and tourism in nineteenth-century New England, the emergence of the "springs" phenomenon, the development of entrepreneurialism into corporate capitalism, and the extension into the rural Northeast of the modern values that still predominantly shape the American cultural landscape. Scholars interested in regional, business, and tourism history as well as modernist studies will find much to admire in this progressive cultural history of the Gilded Age, to which historian David Richards brings impeccable scholarship and an energetic narrative style.

David is a very special person to the MHC family. He is one of our most beloved scholar/facilitators for New Books, New Readers and Let's Talk About It. From all of us, congratulations, David, on a truly magnificent accomplishment.

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"It is only through exploration of the lives of others, that we can come to appreciate ours and rid ourselves of the version of truth that tells us there is only one right away of seeing the world. As our children enter an increasingly diverse adult world, they will need better tools for understanding and appreciating the world views and life styles of others. Your program helps us start increased communication and understanding when the brain is flexible and capable of learning rapidly."

— from an education specialist at Carelink, the Resource Development Center in York County, about the MHC early literacy initiative Born to Read

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Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact Diane Magras by email at diane@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 208 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 208) to respond.