OCL hosts reading of the US Constitution

The Toms River branch held a public reading of the United States Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17^{th .}    The reading celebrated the  221^st anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.

 

Readers included library staff members and members of the community, including judges of the New Jersey Superior Court John A. Peterson and E. David Millard, Ocean County Freeholder Gerry Little, Camille Lopez of Catholic Charities, Mike Redpath of the TR-BID, Lucy Greene and Barbara Morgan of the Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, and members of the League of Women Voters. 

 

The American Constitution is the world’s oldest written constitution and it has been a model of many other constitutions adopted around the world. Archibald Cox, Harvard professor of constitutional law and past Solicitor General of the U.S. said:  “The original Constitution still serves us… because the framers had the genius to say enough, but not too much.”

OCL celebrates Constitution Day

The Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library, 101 Washington Street, will honor the 221^st anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution with a public reading of the document beginning at noon Wednesday Sept. 17.

 

Members of the public, including government officials and students, will each read a section of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Amendments 11 to 27.

 

In addition there will be information, quizzes, and other activities to commemorate the day.

 

The Ocean County Board of Elections will have voter registration forms and voter information available.

 

On Sept. 17, 1787 the Constitution was signed by 39 brave men who changed the course of history.  Now, Sept. 17 is recognized as Constitution Day throughout the country, prompting Americans to continue the signers’ legacy and develop habits of citizenship in a new generation.

 

Immediately following this program, the library will host a program about voting rights and responsibilities:

 

Your Vote Counts: The Only Barrier to the Ballot is You!

Are you ready to vote? Get prepared and be an informed voter! Visit the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library on Wednesday, September 17 at 1:30 pm for an interactive presentation on your voting rights, responsibilities and accessibility issues. Register to vote, see a voting machine demo and learn about Project Vote Smart. Project Vote Smart provides a comprehensive database about thousands of candidates and elected officials including president, congress, governors and state legislators. The event will include demos, film clips, free copies of the Voter’s Self-Defense Manual courtesy of Project Vote Smart and presentations by The Monday Morning Project, The League of Women Voters of Ocean County and The Ocean County Board of Elections.

This event is accessible! Sign language interpreters, Spanish Language interpreter, and OC/CART: Communication Access Realtime Translation have been reserved for this event.

These programs are free and open to the public. Please register by calling 732-349-6200, by visiting our Web site www.theoceancountylibrary.org and click Programs & News for the library’s events calendar, or click http://engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=2161&EventID=25625.