At the library, and around the world: last week s Survivor-Fear Factor-style Gross Out Food Challenge drew a lively crowd of the Radford Public Library s regular after school students plus extras who tried to out eat each other on food products considered delicacies around the world but not on the regular menu for local Sonic lovers. The Roanoke newspaper and television channels covered it, neighboring librarians came to watch, the high school newspaper did an interview, and the AP wire picked up the story. Publicity we desperately seek for our dear, wholesome projects what s not to love about the Bedtime Story Project? rained down on the Radford Public Library for one wacky event. It was great.
There was one irate caller who objected to the waste of good food, and probably many others who shook their heads over this behavior by dull librarians and the teenagers we gripe about, but overall the event was a smash. You could stretch the point and suggest that maybe students learned about exotic world cuisine, but as they yelled and rooted for the brave contestants in their camo gear, it was clearly more about fun than learning.
The week had started in a more difficult way. Tensions between groups of adolescents that had been stewing, then apparently become organized over the previous weekend, ended with a violent fistfight in the children s area. In front of little children and their horrified parents, teenagers the size of large men punched and bled at the library. Book racks were broken and screaming was heard. Quick police response and clear heads among library staff members kept the damage to a minimum, but it s a reminder to all of us here that the public library is an open institution for all people, and that sometimes includes people whose only interest is looking for trouble. The resulting crackdown and constant after school law enforcement presence settled things down for the rest of the week leading up to the Gross Out contest.
Now we just have to get out the pervasive smell of kimchee and herring.