Kathleen Parker: A Library for Our First President
It was fitting that the buzz around George Washington's homestead recently was about the first president's overdue library books, just as the estate's guardians were plotting a new presidential library in the Founding Father's name.
It seems that the man who could not tell a lie failed to return a couple of volumes that were due on Nov. 2, 1789. That comes to more than 220 years late, or about $300,000 in fines.
Borrowed from the New York Society Library, the books were Emmerich de Vattel's "Law of Nations," dealing with international relations, and a collection of debates from Britain's House of Commons. Some light reading for a man preoccupied with the business of creating a nation and learning how to be its president.
Although librarian Mark Bartlett says the library isn't pursuing the fines, he would be happy to get the books back. Perchance to donate them to a new library bearing the last borrower's name? Just a thought....
Those errant books, meanwhile, are a reminder of so much else that is missing regarding George Washington. Too little is known about him and the founding era because too little is taught. And though America's growing historical illiteracy is well-known to educators and policymakers, a glance at the statistics would probably surprise most Americans.
In 2006, for instance, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute tested the civic literacy of 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. The average senior failed with a score of 54 percent.
Also in 2006, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the Nation's Report Card, found that only about one-sixth of students in grades four, eight and 12 are proficient in American history....
Washington may have forgotten to return his library books, but at least there's comfort in the certainty that he read them.