The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 21, 1995 - B1 TERRACE STANDARD INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY ‘CRIS LEYKAUF EVENTS B2 | 638- 7283 BOOKING IN PETER HEPBURN The spectre of censorship EVERAL years ago in my hai- cyon days as a library staff member, I had to deal in part with a complaint from a woman whose teenage daughter had checked out some Harlequin Super Romances. We're all familiar, I’m sure, with these types of books. Waterfalls and rainbows and crescendos in place of the too clinical or vulgar terms for genitalia. As titillation goes, the books gush deliriously. The woman’s complaint began with her concern that the girl was permitted such materia!. Fortunately, that situation was easily remedied in a manner that respected the woman's guidelines for raising her daughter. The woman then continued by expressing disdain for the romance paperback collec- tion and disappointment that the library would spend moncy on such books. Some- thing would have to be done, she intimated, about the library’s policy on acquisitions. She was duly invited to attend future board meetings, even to stand for clection at the next AGM, ; The memory slips to mind easily not just for the absurdity of something so innocuous as a Harlequin book being deemed of- fensive, but for the three other issues that: arose. Censorship — because that’s what it was — is always a thorny issue. In this case, however, the woman was acting in her daughter’s interest. Whatever the execution, I don’t dispute her goal. The library serves many pur- poses, not the feast of which is entertainment. A little romantic fantasy Is a reasonable escape. Library policy-setting is a second issue. True, the board sets out parameters, but more impor- tantly, the librarians and staff interpret them. I for one, trust them wholly in this task. Most interesting then is the concern over how the library determines the money spent on books. Does the public library waste moncy on Tomance paperbacks, among other things? Well, no, it doesn’t. In the case of the romance novels in particular, and the collection in general, the shelves and racks are well- stocked with patron donation. T even recall times when the paperback racks have been too well-supplied to add the dona- tions that clutter the workroom. The library did not purchase many more than those. Stil, they do purchase romance novels among other items. And why not? The library serves many purposes, not the least of which is enter- tainment. A little romantic fantasy is a rea- sonable escape. When I worked at the library, it was my ob- servation that romance paperbacks were the most widely circulated items. Such demand is further justification for the expense of purchas- ing these items. Romance novels aside, the rest of the collec- tion is acquired through similar guidelines. Demand or potential demand for informative, cultural, or entertaining items will determine __.their place at the library. Special items of local interest are a sometime exception. In essence, should you want a book (or peri- odical, CD, video), simply fill out a request form. I can’t guarantee the library will purchase it — some things are just too expensive or too difficult to procure, But when the library will not buy an item, they can always try to get it through an inter-library loan. Not happy with the presence of an item | among the coliection? Discuss it with the librar- jans. You may find that other patrons think the item is worthwhile, The library obviously has no wish to offend its patrons, but it does have an obligation to serve numerous, diverse needs. These needs may not always colncide, but certainly may co-. exist. Tomorrow’s forecast calis for... WHETHER you want next week’s forecast for your daughter’s wedding, or what rainy spots to avoid on your «ext fishing trip, you won’t hear Harry Farl’s friendly voice anymore when you phone the weather of- fice, The weather services specialist retired last week after 32 years in the business, the last ten of them spent in Terrace. It’s a long haul from where he first started out — on tiny windswept Sable Island off the east coast of Nova Scotia, From Sable Island, Earl moved to Fort Smith in the territories, and then to Toronto. He spent a few years moving back and forth from Toronto to various locations including Yellowknife, Ottawa, Antarctica and the Gulf of St Lawrence. Despite his extensive experi- etice across the country, Earl de- scribes Terrace as one of the more complex places in which he has forecasted the weather. “The proximity to the acean, lots of mountains, and three or four river valleys creates phenomenal _variations in weather,”’ he says.“‘Having snow on the bench and rain in town is not uncommon. Over the 32 years Earl has worked for Environment Canada, he has seen a gradual trend towards relying less and Jess on humans to gather weather in- formation. ‘Most of the data used to be collected maaually, now its done electronically and fed into the of. fice.’” On the upside, accuracy has im- proved in areas such as long range forecasting and marine storm Warnings. But the trend towards machines, and away from people is. still growing. Earl’s retirement comes three years before a large number of weather offices across Canada will be scheduled to close, includ- ing the Terrace office. Three temaining employees there will lose their jobs. “There will still be a local weather number to call, but all forecasting and information dis- semination will come out of Whitehorse, Kelowna and Van- couver, ‘‘What we'll be losing is the weatherman with the local ex- pertise,, the person who could tell you that while the region has a 40 per cent chance of rain today, it’s more like an 80 per cent chance of rain up the Kalum,’’ says Earl. ‘‘But it’s ex- pensive to provide that kind of service,’” ra FT| WEATHER FORECAST ER Harry ea retired last week after 3 32 years in the business. : here, from 1985 to 1995, The weather report DON’T BLAME the weatherman for the weather — at least that’s what we’re told. But after ten years in Terrace, maybe it’s time to hold Harry Earl accountable. He’s brought Terracites reports of warm sunny days, cool fall evenings, and of plenty of rain and snow. . While we can’t pin the great flood in the October of 1978 on him, here’s a quick overview of the weather during his time Though 1978 is still unbeaten in most people’s memories for flooding, September 1988 is another memorable month. The mountains got a lot of early snow that year, and when tempera- tures warmed up, and it started to rain, all that accumulated precipitation came down at the same time. And in the fall of 1991, we didn’t see the sun for weeks, as the rain came down, and down, and down. November and Decem- ber were particularly bad, with 324.1 and 326.3 mu of rain, ac-. cumulated each month. In total that yéar Terrace received 1544.9 mm of rain. Overall precipitation was 1870.3 mm, 1987 was another memorable wet year, with 1298.3 mm of rain, and 1575.2 mm of total precipitation. , Compare these figures to dry years, like 1982 with just 838.6 mam of total precipitation, and you'll realize why people seemed to smell a little mildewy-those years. But Terrace isn’t all clouds and rain, In 1989 we recelved 1727.3 hours of bright sunshine. 1985 also rated high on the ‘sunshine meter — 1627.2 hours ofsun. What about that white stuff? 1990 was a pretty good year for snow — 367.7 cm. But January 1989 topped them all, with 277.6 cm in that month alone, responsible for approximately 40 avalanches in the Northwest that swept across the region’s high- ways, Avalanches, floods, cloudy skies — okay, a bit of sunshine too — it’s quite a record which Harry Earl takes into retirement. Good homes urgently needed adoption, considering the number of healthy cats the shelter currently has. oP caN A tiny kitten squeezes through the bars of ils cage at the Animal Shelter, leaving behind 18 lit. termates and two mama cate, Conditions are definitely a little crowded here, he mews. He’s right. The animal shelter is overflowing with cats and kittens, especially after a recent influx of 11 new arrivals last week. “We got a call from Kitimat telling us about this car overflow- ing with cats,”’ says Animal Con- trol Officer Frank Bowsher. ‘‘It turned out there were 35 cats caged up in this small car. They'd been there for at least three hours,’? He (owed the car to the animal shelter, and took the cats in the most dire need of nourishment — and cleaning — into custody, “They were squeezed into a sinall box, literally sitting on their own feces,’ he says, The remainder of the cats ap- peared adequately fed, so he let the owner kecp them. ; “There were special circum. stances in this case,” he says. “The owner recently had her house burned down, and she wag trying to find a place to put them ail,”” The cats — one full grown and the rest kittens of various ages — are all in need of veterinary atten- tion, The shelter will use its ine — jured animal fund to treat them, but funds are limited. The new arrivals join 19 other kittens and 9 cats. That puts con- ditions at the animal shelter at near to bursting. “Tt gets too a point where you run out of toom,” says animal shelter worker Jody Cey. She hopes to save as many cats as she © can, but needs help from the pub- lic. If atyone wants to adopt a cat ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER Frank Bowsher is worried about the fate of 11 cats rescued from a oF kiten, the shelter will provide small box ina car, They're in need of veterinary attention, and don't seem lke good candidates for 4 free vet check. For more in- formation, call them at 635-1457,