The Delaware County District Library (DCDL) is proud to announce our participation in the National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) during the week of Sept. 13-20. NDVRW is a national, nonpartisan campaign to register, educate, and prepare voters with disabilities for the 2021 elections and beyond.
The NDVRW campaign is brought to Delaware County voters through a partnership with DCDL, the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and is coordinated by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ (AAPD) REV UP Voting Campaign. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!
Despite being twice as likely to face voting barriers as people without disabilities, disabled voters have continued to show up each election. Last election, even in the midst of a pandemic, over 17 million people with disabilities cast their ballots. As of the most recent election, there was a 6% turnout gap between voters with and without disabilities — NDVRW aims to narrow that gap.
This NDVRW, the Delaware Library and DCBDD are focusing on the message that all votes are powerful. One in four adults in America lives with a disability, it is important for all voices to be heard and to participate in elections. Votes hold leaders accountable to make decisions that ensure people with disabilities have equal access to employment, community living, education, transportation, healthcare, and more.
For a list of local voting resources, please visit www.delawarelibrary.org/vote. The site includes important dates for the 2021 election, information on how to register to vote, and links to Ohio laws regarding the rights of voter populations like ex-offenders, people living with homelessness, voting with a disability, military and overseas voters and more.
This week we’ll explore some of the new titles in popular culture, from a look at “bad guy” Danny Trejo to the true life story of tennis champ Billie Jean King.
• “Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades” by David Steinberg. Take an engaging 50-year survey of the American comedy scene, written with you-are-there insight by comedian David Steinberg. This book features dishy anecdotes on Steinberg’s brushes with Groucho Marx, Milton Berle, Redd Foxx, and more; interviews with comedy luminaries.
• “Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow” by Matt Sullivan. Get an inside look at the Brooklyn Nets’ transformative 2019-2020 NBA season, marked by the signing of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, COVID-19’s rise, and players’ activism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
• “Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood” by Danny Trejo with Donal Logue. Read this inspiring, no-holds-barred memoir from perennial Hollywood bad guy Danny Trejo, whose remarkable career has spanned more than 400 film and TV credits. Topics include the “macho Chicanismo” of Trejo’s youth; his addiction battles and stints in Folsom and San Quentin prisons; finding faith, sobriety, and success in the entertainment industry.
• “All In” by Billie Jean King with Johnette Howard and Maryanne Vollers. See tennis superstar Billie Jean King’s life, career, and activism both on and off the court. King’s vivid recollections of her many career triumphs and coming into her own as a lesbian will inspire tennis fans and general readers alike.
• “Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It” by Eve Golden. A richly detailed biography of actress Jayne Mansfield, whose flighty sex symbol persona belied her shrewd ambition and longing for critical acclaim. Read it for a complex, well-researched portrait of an often-misunderstood star of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
