Yesterday my new boss told me I have a week and a half to spend $8,000. on books and other informational materials for my department, the children's and young adult sections of our public library.

One of the first things I did was to go to the current issue of Booklist, the "Spotlight on Religion" issue, to look in "Books for Youth" for things on Islam. I found one. One. And the review was a stinker. So I've been hunting on Amazon.

This is really discouraging.

We are hated, and we are resentful because we think of ourselves as good people. By and large, we are. We also have big mouths and we throw our weight around because we're big and can hardly help it, and because we have this "let's fix it" attitude that other people don't always appreciate. Our culture is dominant because of our economic vitality and our dynamism (which comes in no small part from the diverse cultures that make up what we call American culture). And we don't bother to learn about other people, because they have always learned about us, so we figure, why duplicate the effort? We can communicate just fine.

There are no books about Islam for children because there has been no market. There has been no market because the adults don't, or didn't, care. We have without doubt dissed Muslims in our civic life and our foreign policy, and in our attitudes toward their religion. But I think it's because we don't know any better.

A challenge to everyone on this board: Ramadan and Id El-Fitr is coming up. Find out what they are. Find some of the prayers that are said, some of the foods that are eaten, and when they are eaten. If you have a mosque near you, write to the mullah and ask -- humbly, as a pilgrim -- about the upcoming holiday.

We will never counteract hate until we can allay fear. Some of that fear is the fear Muslims have of being misunderstood and disrespected, and even attacked. Some of the fear is our own: fear of those unknown strangers, and whatever they might do inside their mosque. (Growing up Catholic, I remember kids from the public school talking about the rifles the Catholics hid behind the altar so that when the Pope gave the order, we could conquer the nation. I wanted to show those kids there was nothing up there but a tablecloth, but since I was a girl, I wasn't allowed at the altar except to dust and change the floral arrangements with the Altar Rosary Society.) We can't make people stop hating us, but we can temper our ignorance and reach out to our fellow citizens who are Muslim. Baby steps, but we will eventually be able to walk across the room.

Mary Anne