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Community Corner

Birmingham Reflects on Sept. 11: Sense of Community Deepens

Baldwin Library director sees a 'feeling of shared purpose' as one enduring change.

Memories of Sept. 11, 2001 are shared broadly, but also personally distinct. So are reflections on the enduring impact of that turning point a decade ago.

This week, Birmingham Patch presents 12 diverse perspectives on what happened that sunny Tuesday morning and the ensuing decade — including comments by a pastor, a sheriff, civic leaders, a state representative, a county commissioner and a woman widowed that terrible morning.

'Feeling of shared purpose'

Doug Koschik
Director

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The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in all their horror, helped to deepen southeast Michigan’s sense of community. This feeling of shared purpose has promoted an interest in civic activities. I am always encouraged by the fine turnouts for public events that we experience in Birmingham and Beverly Hills. People feel the need to come together and act as part of a larger group, whatever that group may be.

Whatever the long-term effects of Sept. 11, we must never forget the desire to avoid a recurrence of the death and destruction that marked that day.

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Doug Koschik has 36 years of experience in libraries, including 20 at Baldwin. Before being appointed to the top job at the start of 2010, he oversaw technical services and systems. He graduated from the University of Michigan and University of California-Los Angeles and is a past president of the Birmingham Central Kiwanis Club.

For more accounts of where Birmingham's leaders and residents were on Sept. 11, stay tuned for more in our Birmingham Reflects series or check out what residents already had to say.

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