Libraries provide a safe place for everyone: Pink Shirt Day Feb, 27, 2019

“Feb. 27 marks the twelfth anniversary of the anti-bullying Pink Shirt Day since its beginning as a quiet act of kindness by two Nova Scotia teens, David Shepherd and Travis Price, in 2007. The official website, www.pinkshirtday.ca, provides this mission statement: “Bullying is a major problem in our schools, workplaces, homes, and online. Over the month of February, and throughout the year, CKNW Kids’ Fund’s Pink Shirt Day aims to raise awareness of these issues, as well as raise funds to support programs that foster children’s healthy self-esteem.” Similarly, libraries provide yearlong support to people of all ages who are being attacked or ignored because of who they are and who they like and what they wear and what they do.

Entering a public library is like passing into a parallel judgment-free dimension that provides space to just be who you are while discovering countless free resources that support a diversity of personal interests.

Libraries epitomize the importance of being welcoming without prejudice or bias. The success of Shepherd and Price’s small protest that grew into a global movement to stand up to bullying proves that the connection and inclusion a library provides is needed outside the building’s walls and beyond the community it serves.”

The focus for Pink Shirt Day 2019 is cyber bullying: “The dawn of social media brought with it a whole new way to interact, communicate, and even bully. But in this digital world where filtered photos and crafted messages can be posted in an instant, it often takes more time and effort to say something mean than it does to say something nice … For social media users, we want them to THINK before they post. We want them to ask themselves if it is: True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and KIND.”

Come THINK with us when you visit your library on Feb. 27 to just be yourself.

And if you’d like to, remember to wear pink.”