June is the National Safety Month

Now, more than ever, safety is crucial both inside and outside the workplace, which is why the National Safety Council will still be recognizing the National Safety Month in June. 

Observed annually by NSC, the nation’s leading nonprofit safety advocate, National Safety Month focuses on saving lives and preventing injuries, from the workplace to anyplace.

Given the current state of the world, the month will look a little different than past years. There are three major venues of safe at work, safe at home, and safe in the great outdoors. It is important to focus on keeping people safe in our new normal, from ergonomics to mental health; from protecting skin from sunburns and driving and texting, etc. 

Safety means wellbeing, care, security, protection, and shelter. Are you ready for the 2020 hurricane season?

Memorial Day Weekend

As we are going in the long weekend, 

let's get ready to celebrate the Memorial Day

 - in honor of these who gave all for future, for us.

This year, after the invisible enemy, 

Covid-19, 

attacked

the world. 

Today, we solute our military and medical personal

(first responders) 

who are on the frontline 

fighting for us, for the better future.

Cuban-Americans Celebrating May 20

Cuba gained formal independence 

from the U.S. on May 20, 1902, 

as the Republic of Cuba. 

Under Cuba's new constitution, 

the U.S. retained the right to intervene 

in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances 

and foreign relations. 

Under the Platt Amendment, 

the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay naval base 

from Cuba.

Cuban Collection of Books on 

Window Display in 2019 at FNU

as Cuban American Celebrating May 20:

history, culture, and heritage.

Haiti: Book Display

People of Haiti celebrate 

Haiti's Flag Day on May 18.

The earliest version of the Haitian Flag 

was created by Jean Jacques Dessalines in Archaie, 

on May 18th 1803. 

After winning a fierce battle against the French Army, 

Jean Jacques Dessalines took a French Flag, 

blue white and red;

 tear out the white part in symbolization 

of getting rid of white French masters.

Libraries are Essential: An Essay

I was born and raised by the statement that Libraries and Librarians are essential part of our local communities we are serving, now more than ever. Libraries offer free educational and recreational self-help resources. Libraries offer information literacy. Libraries are safe refuges' spaces for any underserved population, and this is true: if unemployed, people go to the Library; need free access to WiFi and Internet, people go to the Library; teaching children to read, parents are going to the Library; learning English language, Libraries play an important role in teaching and learning.
Libraries help boost local economies, and they make communities healthier. Libraries and Librarians preserve history, and more important the truth.

Libraries and Librarians are essential in a process of giving citizens access to knowledge in a devoted space. Librarians provide vital services for our society as they are portals to the world's knowledge, literature, culture, facts, etc. We can even say that in reality of our current situation, Librarians save lives by providing information and research to doctors who are dealing with difficult cases.
Meantime, some 'apparatchiks' decided that our Libraries are non-essential for our communities, and the Librarians were furloughed, and the Libraries were closed. What this is telling about us, humans, and the civilization, in general? Access to books and reading denied. Libraries are closed.

What have we learned from history? Maya civilization's artifacts and their Codex of books disappeared and gone, the famous Alexandria's library in ancient Egypt was unreplaceable as its books were taken by fire. During WWII, Nazi were burning books; and for some people, books became just paper for fire and keeping fire to provide warmth to humans during cold winters. In the modern time, the Libraries and museums in Iraq were destroyed during long-years of war and the ancient documents and artifacts cannot be replaced.

How will the Libraries survive in the changing and unstable world? We used to measure the progress in society by giving the Libraries greater leverage. Library leader of today and tomorrow should not be an inactivist or a re-activist but should be a proactivist who will bring order to chaos and is able to establish strategies for advancing the Libraries on the pass of reopening the economy. Unfortunately, some people act and think later - and they think more of excuses than consequences. Another think neither before nor after. In conclusion, thoughts and forethoughts both give counsel on living and achieving success in dealing with day-today issues and organizational maintenance; and transactional transformational leadership, in preparation to be beset by emergencies. With other words, we have to plan ahead for emergencies such as world pandemics, hurricanes, and any other unexpected nature or men-made events.

Celebrating Nurses and Nursing

National Nursing Month 2020 

as a part of

 the "Year of the Nurse and Midwife"

celebration,

the American Nursing Association (ANA)

will expand National Nursing Week,

traditionally celebrated 

from May 6 to May 12 each year,

to a month-long celebration in May

to expand opportunities 

to elevate and celebrate NURSING.