Is this 800-year-old document the basis for current freedoms? Find out at the library!
Kathleen O'Dell
The library's celebration of Magna Carta's 800th anniversary continues at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Library Center with period music and a scene-setting lecture by a Drury University professor. It's one in a library series complementing the national traveling exhibit Oct. 12-23 at Missouri State University, "Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy 1215-2015."
The upcoming exhibit in Meyer Library is curated by the Law Library of Congress and produced by the American Bar Association, and brought to Missouri by the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Foundation. You can learn about the exhibit and upcoming events at springfieldbar.com and click Magna Carta.
Sunday's event at the Library Center features harpist Drew Holt, who will create the mood of 1215 with music from 2-2:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Afterward, Dr. Thomas Russo will set the scene, discussing the political and societal factors at play 800 years ago in England that gave rise to "The Great Charter." Russo is Drury University associate dean of international relations and art history professor.
Services for military members
The library has two helpful services for active military men and women who need access to Internet-enabled computers.
Active military members can show their military ID at any of the 10 library branches and access the public computers for the two-hour visitor period for free. Other visitors without a library card pay $1 for two hours on the computer.
In addition, the Library Center reference department has a CAC reader, or a Common Access Card reader, for active military visitors. The palm-size device plugs into a public computer, and when the active member of the military slides in his or her military ID, the connection allows the visitor to access military email and links to their military organizations, digitally sign forms and access numerous other military sites. Details are available at https://militarycac.com.
"Part of being in the military is that you're mobile, says Kathi Woodward, reference manager. "To be able to have access at a public library is valuable because they may not have a home base to go to."
Kathleen O'Dell is community relations director of the Springfield-Greene County Library District. She can be reached at kathleeno@thelibrary.org.