Thumbs up to all the organizers and participants of last Saturday’s Take Your Child to the Library Day. At McArthur Library in Biddeford, the day was filled with activities including bookmark-making, coloring and, of course, reading. The day was topped off with a musical performance by Rob Duquette, who is also a library patron. Making libraries a fun destination helps teach children the importance of literature and reading while incorporating activities to keep them engaged. We’re pleased to see local libraries participating and families coming out for the event.

Thumbs up to the students of the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology’s retail marketing class and those who supported the young women’s quest to complete a fashion show. The girls were directed by their teacher, Linda Verville, who said last Thursday night’s show used to be an annual event. The show had stopped in recent years, but Verville said she hopes it will become an annual occurrence. By reaching out to local business owners for gowns for the show and doing their own advertising, the students are learning about how to conduct business in the real world. Completing the process from start to finish has shown the young women have what it takes to put on an event, and hopefully will inspire their budding careers.

Thumbs up to Maine Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, who is the recipient of the National Health Federation Board of Governors’ Health Freedom Hero Award for 2011. The Federation, an international health freedom organization, has been honoring individuals annually with this award since 2000. It is given to those who have excelled in their efforts for individual health freedom rights. Boland is in her third term in the Maine Legislature, where she has sponsored bills to require warning labels for cell phones, address consumer concerns about smart meters and require health care providers to disclose ingredients of immunizations before administering them.

Thumbs up to the Town of Sanford for considering a disorderly housing ordinance. A group of landlords in Biddeford have said they’re pleased with their city’s new ordinance designed to crack down on apartment buildings that are nuisances. It appears most of the situations in Biddeford have been worked out amicably, without the need for fines, and the ordinance has even given some landlords the means to remove problem tenants from their buildings. Russ Glidden of Gorham, who owns an apartment building at 61 Bacon St. in Biddeford, told the Journal Tribune that he had a problem tenant in his building who was responsible for most of the issues at his property. He said he had trouble renting units in his building, and thanks to the ordinance, he was able to work with the police department and rid the building of that problem tenant. We hope Sanford’s ordinance is as successful as Biddeford’s in creating a better environment for all those who live, work in and visit areas of the town in which apartment buildings have caused issues.

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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you want to respond, feel free to write to the Readers’ Forum via email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.