Banned Books Week 2020

 

It's Banned Books Week! 

Check out these commonly banned books. 

 In 2019, And Tango makes three was one of the most challenged books that year. Check it out in the Curriculum section of the Dick Smith Library, call number PZ10.1 .R414 TAN 2005

 This book was banned by the Florida Department of Correction and North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Check out the e-book of OverDrive.

 Commonly banned and contested for LGBTQIA+ content and for sexually explicit content. Available on OverDrive. 

 Now a popular T.V. series, this book is often banned due to sexual references and profanity. Available to read on OverDrive. 

 Even graphic novels get banned. Available in the Curriculum section of the Dick Smith Library, call number PZ7.7 .T355 THI 2014

Read the BANNED book before you watch the series!

For Banned Books Week, check out these three books that have been turned into a hit series. 

1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22 is about Yossarian, a pilot during WWII, who is being sent on missions that only a crazy person would agree to. The catch? If you know you’re crazy, you can’t really be crazy, so he’s off on another impossible mission.  Find it on the shelves in print, audio or as an e-book, call # PS3558 .E476 C3385.

     

   2. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

     Offred navigates the dangerous life of being a “handmaiden”, forced to live a life of servitude while humanity struggles to deal with crippling levels of infertility. Tired of being oppressed, Offred dares to resist even if it means her life and the lives of those she trusts.  Find it on OverDrive, or on the shelves at call # PR9199.3 .A8 H3. 

      3. His Dark Materials  by Phillip Pullman 

     This exhilarating three part series features Lyra and Will, two children trying to out run child-stealing Gobblers and soul-eating Specters. Together they stumble upon an unthinkable weapon, terrifying secrets, and facedown a seemingly impossible task. Find it on OverDrive, or as an ebook, call #PZ7 .P968 G444.

Ten Top Tuesday – 10 most challenged books of 2008

September 26 - October 3, 2009

Its banned book week and it is Tuesday, time for a list. ALA lists these as the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008. Many of these are in the Dick Smith Library! Take a look.

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
   Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
   
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
   Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence
   
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
   
4. Scary Stories
   (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence
   
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence
   
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group
   
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
   
8. Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
   Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group
   
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
   
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
    Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group
    

Here is some good information about how the list of most challenged books is determined.

Book Challenges

"Banned Books" week is coming up, September 26 through October 3. Many books are challenged in schools and libraries in the United States each year. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, while a banning reflects the actual removal of those materials. The American Library Association (ALA) tracks challenges that occur, recording 513 challenges in 2008. However, many challenges are not reported, and the ALA estimates that this reflects only 20-25% of actual challenges.

This Google Maps mashup of Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009, is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids' Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Details are available in ALA's "Books Banned and Challenged 2007-2008," and "Books Banned and Challenged 2008-2009," and the "Kids' Right to Read Project Report." Click on a pinpoint for additional information on the location of the challenge and details on what happened.

View Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009 in a larger map

Note that the map above doesn't include all the challenges that have occurred in Texas. For 13 years now, the ACLU of Texas has released an annual report, Free People Read Freely, during Banned Books Week that provides information about the books that have been removed, restricted, or retained in Texas school libraries and class reading lists during the previous school year. This information is obtained through an Open Records request by the ACLU under the Texas Public Information Act.

Celebrate Constitution Day - September 17

Due to the rain today, outdoor activities will be held under the canopy in front of the Grant (Humanities) Building, next to the Library.

Reading of the Preamble and Bill of Rights
11:00 a.m.
*
Speaker’s Corner
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Free pizza while it lasts!
*
Banned Books Readings
1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
*
Special Forum
The 1st Amendment: How is it real for you?
Inside in the Library Multipurpose Room, at the back of the main floor
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.

Come in and see the Library's display of challenged books on the main floor. "Banned Books" week is September 26 through October 3 this year.

The US Code states that "September 17 is designated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" to "commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution and recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens."

Here are more resources for observing Constitution Day from the National Archives and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Top Ten Tuesday – Freedom to Read

It is Tuesday again – How about a list? In the United State we observe Banned Books Week and in Canada they honor Freedom to Read. Both are such GREAT ideas. We should celebrate all our freedoms! This week (February 22-28, 2008) the Canadian Freedom of Expression Committee is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the Freedom to Read campaign. Here are 10 ways you can celebrate your Freedom to Read!

• Stay informed. If you read or hear about a challenge, support both your librarian and free and open access to library materials.
  
• Exercise your rights! Check out or re-read a favorite banned book
  
• Get involved. Volunteer to help your library.
  
• Hold a discussion about the freedom to read and helps educate others about censorship.
  
• Speak out. Write letters to the editor, congressman, etc. supporting the freedom to read.
  
• Talk to your neighbors and friends about why everyone should be allowed to choose for themselves and their families what they read.
  
• Encourage your book group to read and discuss a book, any book – you are free to choose!
  
• Give one of your favorite books as a gift.
  
• Share Your Experience - let others us know your Freedom to Read and why you celebrate it!
  
• Join the Freedom to Read Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to the legal and financial defense of intellectual freedom, especially in libraries.