The database includes multiple editions of constitutions. For example, if you search for El Salvador, you'll find versions of the constitution as amended to 1983, 1996, 2003, and 2009.
Every year, the UW Libraries sponsors a read-aloud of the U.S. Constitution and YOU can participate! This year's reading will take place on Friday, October 4, 2019 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. outside the Suzzallo Library's third floor Reading Room.
Each volunteer reads a short excerpt (around five sentences) and the entire event takes about 75 minutes. You can visit the registration page if you would like to participate as a reader, but note that walk-in readers are also welcome! More information for readers is available here.
Not interested in reading? No problem! All are welcome to come and listen.
I fed in two English sentences, translating them to Spanish. My knowledge of Spanish is weak, but this looks pretty good:
Many dedicated students prepare for class in the Gallagher Law Library every day. Some of them check out Course Reserve books, phone chargers, and book stands from the Information Desk.
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Muchos estudiantes dedicados se preparan para la clase en la Biblioteca de Derecho de Gallagher todos los días.Algunos de ellos revisan los libros de la Reserva de cursos, los cargadores de teléfono y los puestos de libros en el mostrador de información.
Then I had the system translate that Spanish passage into Japanese, which I don't know at all. (Japanese speakers: how faithful is the translation?) Then I had the system translate the Japanese to Greek. And the Greek to Russian. And finally, from Russian back to English:
Πολλοί αφιερωμένοι μαθητές προετοιμάζουν καθημερινά μαθήματα στη Βιβλιοθήκη του Gallagher Law.Μερικοί βιβλιοπωλούν βιβλία μαθημάτων, φορτιστές τηλεφώνου και βιβλία στο γραφείο πληροφοριών.
⇒
Многие преданные студенты готовят ежедневные уроки в юридической библиотеке Галлахер.Некоторые продают учебники, зарядные устройства для телефонов и книги на информационной стойке.
⇒
Many dedicated students prepare daily classes at the Gallagher Law Library.Some sell textbooks, phone chargers, and books at the information desk.
Obviously there was slippage in the meaning along the way. The lesson? Particularly when you are using Google Translate for languages that you don't know, be aware that it's an imperfect tool. Respect the work of professional translators who actually know the languages!
Our Banned Books Week post mentioned the severe restrictions on reading material in prisons. To show the other side, here are four inspirational books about the tremendous impact that access to books can have on prisoners' lives.
Ernest J. Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying(1993). Publisher's page. Prize-winning novel about a young teacher's relationship with a black youth condemned to death.
Since ancient times, some people have tried to prevent others from reading
books that were deemed immoral, revolutionary, or dangerous in some
other way. And it still goes on. Take a look at the eleven most challenged books of 2018:
Past lists are interesting to browse. How many of those books have you read? Would you try to prevent others from reading them?
Banned Books Week (Sept. 22-29 this year) celebrates the freedom to read. It's sponsored by a coalition of organizations dedicated to free
expression, including: American Booksellers Association, the American
Library Association, and many more.
Perhaps the most glaring example of prison
censorship has been the rejection of books about criminal justice
reform, mass incarceration and inmates’ rights. . . .
“Chokehold: Policing Black Men” by Paul Butler was banned in Arizona prisons until
June, weeks after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a
lawsuit, and Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow,” [ebook link] a searing
indictment of mass incarceration, was off-limits to prisoners in North
Carolina, Florida and New Jersey before bans were lifted amid similar
challenges by the ACLU.
(I added links to the books from our catalog, in case you want to read them.)
Here in Washington State, check out the work of Books to Prisoners, a nonprofit whose name sums up its mission. Follow them on Twitter @B2PSeattle.
If you want to dig into the United States Constitution and how it has been interpreted by the Supreme Court, take advantage of the annotated constitution prepared by the staff of the Library of Congress.
