Reflecting on 9-11 and Being Connected

Today it is natural to think back to that horrible day. I wrote this reflection on the school librarian listserv LMNet two years ago. Connections have changed since then, not always for the better, but they continue to serve an important role. ------------ I was a brand new media specialist on September 11, 2001. The events of the day were so shocking, and limited access to news during school and the many unanswered questions were so bewildering. I think back to one of my lines to the outside world that day, LMNet. There were so many questions: do you have your TV's on? Have you told the students anything? People reported that parents were showing up at school and taking their children home. Even at my own school, there were debates. Some teachers said, "Why do you have your TV on?", or "Why don't you have your TV on?" Some listserv members told of email as their only outlet to news. Some mentioned wanting to give students some background information before they would be going home alone. Some later told of students who were told what happened getting on the same bus with others who didn't know. And, we were all trying to make sense of what happened. To me, this illustrates the importance of LMNet as a community. LMNet helped me decide to become a library media specialist, and I will never forget the support and comfort I received on September 11, 2001. If you are interested, you can find the archives of that day beginning at http://lmnet-archive.iis.syr.edu/LM_NET-pre2003/2001/Sep_2001/mail5.html