Portland observer., February 20, 1985, Page 15, Image 15

Christine
Poole
C hristine Poole is the librarian o f one of the
state's largest libraries. She is the Elementary Library Coordinator for the Port­
land Public Schools.
She reviews, evaluates and selects books, textbooks and materials for Hie dis­
trict's libraries. A transplanted Californian. Poole calls herself a "reader "
" I really like working with materials and I have this dedication to finding ma­
terials on Blacks. I t ’s a life-long ambition for me to get as much materials on
ethnic groups in my head and on the shelves,” she added
As a librarian. Poole works under the shadow of her future readership. She
strives to reach a balance between creativity and reality, "W e have to be careful
but we will not remove a book because one person objects. W e look at mate­
rials on a whole and are sensitive to sex, child abuse and drug« " she slated
One objection she remembers was over books dealing with the occult. "A n d in
this conservative climate we are expecting m ore." Poole said she has yet to re­
ceive a complaint regarding an ethnic book. " I think people are a bit more open "
she added.
Poole plans to increase the number of multi cultural books but she has to
deal with the distribution problems afflicting small publishers "Sometimes they
will publish a few and then the title goes out of print.”
The btiok that means the most to Poole is ChanceUor William's The Dtstruc
lion o f Black Civilization. "T his book lists Black contributions and makes us
aware as to why things are not right," she concluded.
Matthew
Prophet
MATTHEW PROPHET
M a tth e w W . Prophet, Jr., Superintendent
of the Portland Public Schools, assumed administrative leadership for the School
District on April I, 1982. He came to Portland from the Superintendency of the
Lansing, Michigan, School District, a post he held since 1978.
A dominating articulator. Prophet said, "T h e real need today is to find a
proper balance between standards and equity. How can we respond to the stand­
ards movement without losing the equity o f the 60s and 70s?”
Prophet said Public School Districts are faced with a credibility gap. " A pre­
ponderance o f citizens living within the district have no vested interest in the
public schools. Also, increasingly large number of our voters are senior citizens
on fixed incomes who do have a vested interest in preventing increases in proper­
ty taxes Therefore, they vote overwhelmingly against school levies and bond
issues," he added.
Although Black children are scoring two to three grades behind their white
counterparts in the district, Prophet said, "The growth of Black students is pro­
ceeding at a greater pace. As a result, the historical gap in the level of achieve­
ment of Black students and majority students is continuing to close
"There still remain significant areas of concern, such as the rate of learning
progress by Black students in grades 6, 7 and 8 Although we have come a long
way, there still remain many challenges However, our success in closing achieve­
ment gaps over the last three years gives us good reason to expect continued
meaningful progress,” he concluded.
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CHRISTINE POOLE
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Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
(1853-1931)
NOTED SURGEON. Born in Pennsytvani
he earned his M .D . degree from Chicagt
Medical School in 1883. He founded
Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1891.
and performed the first successful
heart operation in 1893. In 1894 he
reorganized Freedman's Hospital in
Washington, D.C. He became the
first Black staff physician with St. Luke
and Mercy Hospital in Chicago. Affiliate
with Northwestern University School
of Medicine, he was elected a Fellow
of the American College of Surgeons
in 1913.
PHIL REYNOLDS MEDICAL CLINIC
I5 N. M orris St.
Portland, Oregon 97227
287-4532
Walter C Reynolds M .D . Fam. Prac.
Kalpana H. Rajdev M .D . Fam. Prac.
Ezra Axhar M D Fam Prac.
MollammerI Ahmed M D O B / Gyn
Portland Observer. February 20, 19B5. Section II Page /
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