The Nichols Library will not be putting books out today in observance of Columbus Day. “See” you Wednesday.

About the holiday: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially instituted Columbus Day in 1934, but the idea for the holiday rose in the 1920s, when the Knights of Columbus tried to undercut the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan by emphasizing the role minorities had played in America. The KOC published three books in a “Racial Contributions” series, including The Gift of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Dus Bois. They celebrated the contributions of immigrants, especially Catholics, to America with parades honoring Christopher Columbus. The Knights of Columbus were determined to reinforce the idea that America must not be a land of white Protestant supremacy.”