This Week's Facts:

-Month Dedicated to Promote Disaster Preparedness

-Promote Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Among Children

-New LoC Magazine Uncovers Unique Collections, Historic Facts

-Document of the Month: Annual Report of the Indiana State Farm

Next Week Celebrate Inaugural Indiana Information Literacy Week

On September 14, 2012, Gov. Daniels proclaimed the first week of October as Indiana Information Literacy Week.

Indiana Information Literacy Week was developed by the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) Information Literacy Committee. This group focuses on expanding awareness throughout Indiana about information literacy. The committee serves as a focal point for exploring information literacy issues, discussing new opportunities that would further facilitate collaboration and adoption of best practices among ALI members, and to recommend courses of action to the ALI Board of Directors.

Click here to find local museums participating in Museum Day

Friday Facts Editorial Team:

Katharine Springer
State Data Center Coordinator

Kim Brown-Harden
State Documents Coordinator

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Month Dedicated to Promote Disaster Preparedness

September has been proclaimed Preparedness Month by Governor Daniels. In order to keep you, your family, and loved ones safe, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security has activities to promote and support emergency preparedness. More than 3000 public and private organizations at national, regional, and local levels support emergency preparedness efforts. Indiana residents are encouraged to participate. You can join emergency preparedness efforts by doing four things:

Get a kit: Would you and your family survive after a major disaster without access to transportation or major utilities?  What will you eat or drink?  Do you have enough medicine, baby formula, and other items to last three days or more?  

Make a plan: Do you and your family members all know now to escape if your home catches fire, or where to go if a tornado threatens your area?  How will you communicate and where will your family reunite if you’re separated during an emergency?  What you will do if your child’s school or daycare facility closes? If you evacuate during a flash flood or other disaster, do you know the best routes? 

Be Informed: Is your home or office located in a flood plain or are you downstream from a major dam?  Will you know if a severe thunderstorm is headed your way in the middle of the night? 

Get Involved: Once you and your family are prepared for emergency situations, go out and teach someone about preparedness. Schools and businesses should include emergency plans into employee handbooks and standard curriculums. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s website has resources and plans for various groups, such as children, senior citizens/elderly, people with disabilities and functional needs, pets. There is also a page En Espanol for residents who speak Spanish.   

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has a Get Prepared page that provides various plans for dangers Hoosier families face.  Remember to make a plan and make sure your family, friends, and neighbors have one as well!

Promote Healthy Eating & Physical Activity Among Children

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Most people are aware that children need to be fed healthy, well balanced meals and get plenty of exercise. But life gets busy - especially for parents and caregivers! This month is a good reminder that teaching and modeling healthy eating and physical activity habits can help children throughout their lives. The Childhood Obesity Awareness Month website provides links to many national national resources for information, public awareness materials, and programs which cover childhood obesity. The CDC features a special Childhood Overweight and Obesity portal which offers basic facts and solutions. The Indiana State Department of Health provides a website on Obesity and Overweight Prevention which even targets Adolescent Weight Issues. At the Let’s Move website, you’ll find more ways to get active and get involved in the efforts to combat childhood obesity.

New LoC Magazine Uncovers Unique Collections, Historic Facts

The Library of Congress has a magazine! The new Library of Congress Magazine (LCM) debuted this week. The magazine will be published bi-monthly and contains general-interest features to educate and entertain readers about current and historical events. In the first issue, the story of the Library will be told. It provides historical context for the Library of Congress – an institution that can be awe-inspiring, and at the same time, intimidating. The LOC is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world. It holds more than 151 million items in various languages, disciplines, and formats. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications, and exhibitions. The magazine’s patrons include members of Congress, libraries throughout the nation, and educational institutions across the world.   You can view and download an electronic version of the magazine by clicking here. Happy reading!

Document of the Month: Annual Report of the Indiana State Farm

This month’s document highlights one of Indiana’s prison systems, the Indiana State Farm at Putnamville, Indiana. In the 1913 Acts of Indiana, Chapter 236, is the law creating the Indiana State Farm.  A law approved on March 2, 1907 was passed regarding the management and control of the State benevolent, reformatory, and penal institutions.

Most people are familiar with various State Prisons in Indiana, but few know about the State Farm and how it came into existence. The State Farm was created as a result of a “jail problem in all its phases, and considered the feasibility of doing away with the jail as a place for the punishment of misdemeanants (minor offenders) to distinguish them from those guilty of more serious offenses (felonies). Someone suggested that to place them in a state-owned farm instead of jails,” according to the First Annual Report (Sept. 30, 1915). It was believed that if offenders could be placed in the open and in the sunshine, close to nature, they would be given a better opportunity to improve themselves.

The Board of State Charities was instrumental in creating the State Farm, along with the Chambers of Commerce across Indiana (notably Richmond), and the Governor at the time. House Bill 471 was approved March 14, 1913, and was formulated and enacted into law, providing for the appointment by the Governor of four Commissioners to select a site for a farm of no less than 500 acres, appropriating $60,000 for its purchase.   

The library holds the annual reports of the Indiana State Farm which provide details into the state’s early prison system. They offer demographic information on prisoners, such as age, race, birthplace, population by county, and types of offenses committed. For example, in 1915 a person could be sent to the State Farm for adultery (nine people); cruelty to animals (two people); and using profanity (one person).  Some later reports also list prisoners who died with cause of death and age. Also listed are the various fruits, vegetables, and livestock that were grown and raised on the farm. These and many other interesting facts can be found in the Indiana Collection, ISLI 365.44 I385fr for the years 1915 to 1980.