Anyone here remember the movie, “Short Circuit 2?” In it, a naive robot, who thinks he is alive, is obsessed with collecting “input” or knowledge. As a middle school teacher, I identify with the character. Check out this scene from the movie in which the robot comes face to face with a massive bookstore, a treasure trove of input:

Certainly Capital Area District Library (CADL) provides input-seekers young and old with a vast array (terabytes!) of input. However, the CADL system doesn’t just offer media for borrowing and enjoyment. The CADL system is helping young children, teens, and adults stay mentally active year-round, especially in the summer months. The libraries offer scheduled group reading activities, song and dance, story-time events, live theater, family movies and a lot more. Check out all the summer activities here.

This video explains how programs, like those CADL offers during the summer, should be developed help fill the summer learning void:

As an educator, I concentrate on helping students develop the skills to be contributing members of a community. The library is a perfect place to practice using those skills. The library is a safe, comfortable and respectful place where community members can interact with one another, share knowledge and thoughts, be entertained and discover new things. It’s also a great equalizer, with free membership that allows all people access to its many resources, including free Internet.

The library system is maintained through civic support in many forms, especially the millage, which is up for renewal in the August 3 primary election. I encourage you to join me in showing our young people how as a community, we can participate in the political process to declare our support for the library system. Remember that scene from Short Circuit 2? “See those guys right there? They want to take your books away!” Let’s not be those guys and vote “Yes” to renew the CADL millage.

Mike Vasas is a Lansing resident who teaches middle school music.He runs a music blog project at http://songsnotbyme.com