Ottawa’s “Library in Space” Program
on Hold after Columbia
In the wake of the tragic loss of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia February 1, the Ottawa, Canada, library board has postponed its launch of a program designed to generate interest in space exploration. The “Library in Space” program would have coincided with the second trip into space of Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean, who was scheduled to blast off in the orbiter Endeavor May 23. However, NASA has temporarily grounded future shuttle flights.
MacLean, who grew up in the Ottawa suburb of Nepean, had spent many youthful hours in the library branch there. “What made the most sense to us was to acknowledge the role the library played in Mr. MacLean’s development,” library board chairman Rick Chiarelli said in the February 4 Ottawa Citizen. “We have one of Canada’s real heroes here in Ottawa and lots of kids don’t even know about him.”
City Librarian Barbara Clubb told American Libraries that MacLean was “very interested in working with the library to generate a renewed appreciation of the space program in a new generation of children.” She added that it helped that his sister-in-law Deb MacLean is the library’s manager of technical services.
Though still in the planning stages, the program would have offered Internet links to coverage of the mission, hookups to NASA television, interactive spaceflight displays, and life-size cutouts of MacLean at each of the 33 library branches.
Posted February 10, 2003.
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