Banned Books Week: Five of Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2016

Every year, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary challenge reports sent to OIF from communities across the United States. Surveys indicate that 82% to 97% of book challenges are not reported and receive no media coverage. Thus the Top Ten Most Challenged Books list should not be viewed as an exhaustive report.  In 2016, the OIF recorded 323 challenges.  Out of that Top Ten list, our library owns four and will acquire a fifth:

Number 10 on the list is Eleanor & Park, written by Rainbow Rowell. One of seven New York Times Notable Children’s Books and a 2014 Honor Book recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, this  novel was challenged for offensive language. It can be found in our OverDrive e-book collection.

Number 6 on the list is Looking for Alaska by John Green. This 2006 Printz Award winner is a young adult novel that was challenged and restricted for a sexually explicit scene that may lead a student to “sexual experimentation.”  This book was the number 1 most challenged book in 2015, and number 7 in both 2012 and 2013, for reasons including offensive language and the inclusion of drugs/alcohol/smoking, as well as being sexually explicit and unsuited for age group. It can be found on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library, Curriculum Collection, call number EDUC PZ7 .G8233 LO 2005, and also in our OverDrive e-book collection.

Number 4 on the 2016 list is I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas. This picture book memoir was challenged and removed because it portrays a transgender child and because of language, sex education, and offensive viewpoints. It was also number 3 on the 2015 list for teh following reasons: inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.  It can be found on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library in the Curriculum Collection, call number EDUC HQ77.7 .H467 2014.

Number 2 on the 2016 list is Drama, written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier. This 2013 Stonewall Book Award Honor-winning graphic novel for young adults was challenged because it includes LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint. This book will be acquired for our library.  Drama was also number 10 on the list in 2014.

The most challenged book of 2016 is This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki. This young adult graphic novel was named both a 2015 Printz Honor Book and a 2015 Randolph Caldecott Award Honor Book, the latter designation for its illustrations. It was restricted, relocated, and banned due to LGBT characters, drug use, profanity, sexual explicitity with mature themes. It can be found on the Dick Smith Library lower level in the Curriculum Collection, call number EDUC PZ7.7 .T355 THI 2014.

Meet Our Staff: Phyllis Kinnison

Phyllis Kinnison
Librarian / Archivist
254-968-1808
pkinnison@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Lower Level, Room B05B


I came to Tarleton in September 2017 to serve as the new Librarian / Archivist. As an archivist it is my job to preserve the collective memory and culture of a community and its people. My job has three parts: (1) I collect materials of continuing usefulness such as diaries, letters, journals, ledgers, reports, etc.; (2) I arrange and preserve each collection; and (3) I describe each collection to help researchers find information. I think my job is very exciting, because I not only get to work with very old materials but also born-digital information stored on new formats such as CDs, DVDs, and hard drives.

I earned a BA in social studies education with a library science minor and a MA in history at The University of Louisiana at Monroe. I later earned my MLIS (master in library and information science) at Louisiana State University. In my career as an archivist, I’ve worked as a project archivist at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; the head of special collections at Ouachita Baptist University, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas; and archivist at the Museum of South Texas History in McAllen, Texas. 

My father was in the Air Force the first 16 years of my life, so I have lived in many locations and enjoy traveling. The activities I enjoy include watching movies, reading, and gardening. My daughter, a freelance editor, lives in Austin with my three grandsons. My son lives in Nashville, where he works as the technical director of the Nashville Ballet.

Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15th through October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage month. This is the time to recognize the contributions and experiences of Americans of Hispanic heritage. According to the National Hispanic Heritage Month website, hosted by the Library of Congress, "September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of the independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their Independence days on September 16th and 18th respectively."

Percentage of Hispanic or Latino population by county in 2010 census.
By United States Census Bureau [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Hispanic Americans are a large and quickly growing segment of the US population. In 2003, Hispanics became the largest minority group in the United States. The 2010 census counted 50,477,594 Americans of Hispanic or Latino origin. That's 16.3% of the total US population and a 43% increase from the 2000 census count.

Timeline of Hispanic-American History
Click on the links below to find relevant library resources on each topic.

1493: Christopher Columbus began Spanish colonization of Puerto Rico.

1513: Juan Ponce de León led first expedition to Florida.

1528 – 1536: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca survived an ill-fated expedition and explored portions of Texas. His book was the first written account of Texas Indians.

·         Castaways: the Narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 

1539 – 1542: Hernando de Soto explored Southeast US including portions of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. The Hernando de Soto Expedition by Jerald T. Milanich. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explored Southwest US including portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Documents of the Coronado Expedition, 1539 – 1542 by Richard and Shirley Cushing Flint.

1565: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established a colony at Saint Augustine, Florida.

·         America’s Ancient City: Spanish St. Augustine, 1565 – 1763 by Kathleen A. Deagan

1598: Juan de Oñate led Spanish colonization of New Mexico.

·         The Last Conquistador: Juan de Oñate and the Settling of the far Southwest by Marc Simmons

1610: Santa Fe established as capital of New Mexico.

·         Santa Fe: History of an Ancient City by David Grant Noble

1718: Spanish colonists founded San Antonio, Texas.  

·         San Antonio de Béxar: a Community on New Spain’s Northern Frontier by Jesús F. de la Teja

·         Spanish Texas, 1519 – 1821 by Donald E. Chipman

      1748 - 1755: José de Escandón led the Spanish colonization of Nuevo Santander (which today includes the Mexican state of Tamaulipas and portions of southern Texas). He established several settlements in the region including Laredo, TX. 

·            De León: a Tejano Family History by A. Carolina Castillo Crimm
    Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas by Donald E. Chipman and Harriet Denise Joseph 

Presidio La Bahía near Goliad, TX. Originally built by the Spanish in 1721, and later rebuilt in 1771.
 Photo by Ernest Mettendorf - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4208460

1769 – 1819: Spain established multiple settlements in California including San Diego (1769), San Francisco (1776), and Los Angeles (1781).

·         A History of California: the Spanish Period by Charles E. Chapman

·         Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786: The Journals of Jean François de la Pérouse.

1821: United States purchased Florida from Spain.

·         Diplomacy and the Borderlands: the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 by Philip Coolidge Brooks  

 Mexico won independence from Spain.

·         The Hidalgo Revolt: Prelude to Mexican Independence by Hugh M. Hamill

1822: Joseph Marion Hernández became first Hispanic to serve in the US Congress. He was a delegate from the Florida Territory.

1836: Texas declared independence from Mexico.

·         Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans Tell Their Stories by Paul Robert Walker

·         Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821 – 1836 by Andrés Tijerina
    A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguín by Jesús F. de la Teja 

1845: United States annexed Texas.

·         The Annexation of Texas by Justin Harvey Smith

1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico ceded territory to US including: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and portions of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. 
   The Border Crossed Us: Rhetorics of Borders, Citizenship, and Latino/a Identity by Josue David Cisneros. 

·         Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States by Carlos G. Vélez-Ibañez

·         The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: a Legacy of Conflict by Richard Griswold del Castillo

1859: Juan Cortina seized control of Brownsville, TX in retaliation for town marshal’s assault on one of his employees.

·         Cortina: Defending the Mexican Name in Texas by Jerry D. Thompson

·         Juan N. Cortina: Two Interpretations by Charles William Goldfinch
1875: Romualdo Pacheco became the first Hispanic governor of a US state (California). 
1877: A white mob killed approximately 40 Mexican-Americans in Nueces County, Texas.
          Forgotten Dead: Mob Violence against Mexicans in the United States, 1848-1928 by William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb.   

1889: The Herrera brothers (Pablo, Nicanor, and Juan Jose) formed a resistance movement known as Las Gorras Blancas to protect Hispanic land from Anglo squatters in New Mexico.

1898: Spain ceded control of Puerto Rico to the United States at the conclusion of Spanish-American War.

·         Spanish-American War by Michael Golay

1910 – 1920: Revolution in Mexico resulted in increased Mexican immigration to US.

·         Border Conflict: Villistas, Carrancistas, and the Punitive Expedition, 1915 – 1920 by Joseph Allen Stout

·         Pancho Villa at Columbus by Haldeen Braddy

1917: Puerto Ricans granted US citizenship.

·         Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico by Laura Briggs

1928: Octaviano Larrazolo, from New Mexico, became first Hispanic to serve in the US Senate.

1929: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which advocates for Latino civil rights, founded in Corpus Christi, TX.

·         LULAC, Mexican Americans, and National Policy by Craig Allen Kaplowitz

1942:  Due to labor shortage caused by World War II, US entered into an agreement with Mexico (known as the Bracero Program) to import Mexican laborers into the US.
   Harvest of Loneliness: The Bracero Program – documentary film.

The first Braceros arriving by train in Los Angeles, CA in 1942.
By Dorothea Lange, working for the US Government. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. 

1943: Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, CA.

·         Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A. by Eduardo Obregón Pagán

1945: Marcario García became first Mexican immigrant to be awarded the US Congressional Medal of Honor.

    A Legacy Greater than Words: Stories of U.S. Latinos & Latinas of the WWII Generation by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez 

1948: Dr. Hector P. García founded the American G.I. Forum in Corpus Christi, TX to advocate for the civil rights of Hispanic veterans. The group gained national attention advocating on behalf of the family of Felix Longoria after a funeral home in Three Rivers, TX refused to bury him. 

1954 – 1958: US government implemented “Operation Wetback” and deported millions of people of Mexican descent.

1959: Fidel Castro’s successful revolution in Cuba resulted in increased Cuban immigration to US.

·         The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy by Marifeli Pérez-Stable

1962: César Chávez and Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers to advocate for the rights of migrant farm workers.

·         The Moral Vision of César Chávez by Fredrick John Dalton

·         Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers by Sarah E. Warren and Robert Casilla

1964: Bracero Program ended.

1965 – 1970: United Farm Workers conducted a successful strike on behalf of grape pickers in California.

·         Delano, the Story of the California Grape Strike by John Gregory Dunne

1968: Thousands of Hispanic students walkout of schools in Los Angeles, CA to protest unequal educational opportunities. Walkouts spread to hundreds of schools in multiple states.

1988: Lauro Cavazos became the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Cabinet. He served as Secretary of Education.

·         A Kineño Remembers: from the King Ranch to the White House by Lauro Cavazos

2003: Hispanics became largest minority group in the United States.

2009: Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. 

President Obama and Sonia Sotomayor meeting in the Oval Office in 2009.
By Official White House photo by Pete Souza from Washington, DC (Flickr) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Dick Smith Library has a large collection of books and other resources on topics relevant to the Hispanic American experience. Such as these titles: 

Language, Race, and Negotiation of Identity: a Study of Dominican Americans by Benjamin H. Bailey.

Life on the Hyphen: the Cuban-American Way by Gustavo Pérez Firmat

The Mexican Americans by Alma M. García

Puerto Ricans in the United States: a Contemporary Portrait by Edna Acosta-Belén.

The Spanish Americans of New Mexico: a Heritage of Pride by Nancie L. Solien Gonzalez. 

Let us know if you need assistance finding additional information by calling 254-968-9249 or emailing at reference@tarleton.edu. 

The Dick Smith Library, the center of the Tarleton Community.

By Yeidi Rios

Part I

Maybe this year you decided it would be different and that you would visit the library more often? Or maybe you’re a freshmen and you just need access to a computer or a quiet place to study? Whatever the reason you decide to become a familiar face at the library, and whether you’re a Tarleton student, faculty or staff, you’re in luck! My goal with this series of posts is to provide knowledge and familiarity with what can be the greatest resource in someone’s learning journey. The library is that special place in campus were you can visit and learn comfortably in the company of others, where you don’t need to feel alone with your digital problems- the library is filled with professional personnel to help you overcome your digital obstacles. I’m proud to say the library has gone through many changes and upgrades to provide the best learning experience we can possibly provide, and our willingness to constantly adapt to our community’s needs will not stop.

The Dick Smith Library consists of three floors.  First, let’s start with the main level. As you enter the library, behind the crystal windows, you will find a cozy lounging area situated around a TV and wall shelves that display our newest books. Past circulation and the café we have our computer stations, and if they are all taken we have a laptop vending machine that lends laptops for up to 4 hours. If you are in need of group study areas with computers, we have 5 study booths surrounding big computer monitors. These are not the only ones. Near the Tech Spot, we have two more study rooms equipped with computers and big screen monitors.  In addition to all this, located at the back of the library in the periodicals section, you’ll find microfilm machinery and 2 desktops exclusively for use with the microfilm. For those students who need technical or digital support remember that you can go by the Tech Spot open Monday through Friday from 8-8 pm. Last but not least, if you find your mobile device low on battery we have solutions for that as well.  Near the Tech Spot you will find a charging station equipped with chargers for different mobile devices. If you have any questions regarding the services we provide, doubts on the basic use of computers or software, or simply need help finding information, visit the reference desk- it is always open. 

For my next blog post I will be discussing the lower level and all the neat technology and spaces located down there. If you let it, the Dick Smith library will be your greatest support in your pursuit of knowledge and personal growth, so until next time, we hope to see you in the library! 

Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 12-14

September 12-14 is suicide prevention week. The Dick Smith Library is collaborating with the counseling center to help bring awareness. When you stop by the study grounds café to get your coffee take a moment to check out the display that has an inspiring message by SGT Shane Ortega. "Suicide is a topic that needs to be discussed in the light of day, maybe even while sitting at a table with friends over coffee. It shouldn't be hushed. Let's start more conversations, even if they scare us. Ortega stated. Post it notes have been provided for you to leave encouraging positive messages. If you find a message that inspires you, feel free to take a message in exchange.

Spotlight: Databases That Will Blow Your Mind

The fall semester at the Dick Smith Library brings us new arrivals of all sorts: incoming freshmen, new staff members, and exciting new materials to offer our patrons. Among them are two incredibly vast, versatile and impactful databases I am excited to introduce you to here today.

Life Magazine Archive – This massive archive provides a bird’s eye view into the events and people who have shaped us as a nation, spanning as far back as 1936. Life, most famously known for its provocative and timeless covers, is an invaluable treasure trove for the academia community.

As told to the San Francisco Gate: "Every day we receive requests from readers looking for these issues for research purposes, and to find photos and articles featuring family members, hometowns and other memories," Andrew Blau, president of Life Inc., said in a statement. "Now with these full issues available online, readers will be able to browse through history as it was being recorded."

Patrons are directed to the Ebsco host where they can search by keyword, publication date, document type and cover story. The results are beautiful scans, allowing us to step back in time and wonder at the world as it was.

Race Relations in America – About this database, John Giggie, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, and Director for the Summersell Center for the Study of the South is quoted as saying, “A rare opportunity to track the fight for racial justice in the modern era. There are few collections that can rival it for tracking the evolution of civil rights thought and effort over time.” 

Image title “Hispanic delegate entertaining at the Race Relations Institute, 1955”
 Copyright the Amistad Research Center.

Race Relations highlights over 100 hours of audio recordings, survey material, case studies, campaigns against voter suppression in the African American communities, photographs, scrapbooks and posters spanning three decades. Additionally, the collection features interactive maps, a data association tool, interactive chronology, a visual highlights gallery, contextual essays, and video interviews for the engaged student. The value of this database, especially in the current atmosphere, cannot be overstated.

Whether it’s a speech given by Thurgood Marshall you’re seeking, or a survey of housewives in the 1960’s, this source will provide you with endless material to broaden your knowledge on the most prevalent, and important social theme of our time.