Banned Book Week

[fabrisse]

Arcimbaldo Librarian

I think it's cool that the National Book Festival on the Mall (and I did have to answer a tourist question about where were the stores while I waited for daylyn on Sunday) led into Banned Book Week this year. I'm not certain whether it was serendipity or planning.

According to a column in last year's Examiner by Will Grofic, "New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah" are the only states never to have banned a book.

Those of you who know my mother and I don't always get along, I hope also know that Mom stood up to more than one librarian who wanted to keep me from reading books the librarians deemed too old for me. As far as she was concerned, I could read anything I chose, and that gave me confidence in other aspects of my life. So "Go, Mom!"

There's more information out there. As much as I disliked the book Twilight, I never wanted to see it banned -- discussed so that the students won't just accept its view of women uncritically, yes; banned, no.

Comments

[ayashi-mikage.livejournal.com]

I really wish I could go to BBW, been interested in them for a long time.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I don't know what was up with the website earlier today.

[ghfan-98.livejournal.com]

I used to work at a middle school where we had a wonderful librarian. She had a recommended reading list that covered reading levels from 3rd grade through 12 and made sure those books were on the shelves. We had a superintendent change along about 2000 and his wife saw the reading list that the librarian made available for parents/students. She was opposed to the lower and upper levels being on the list and he made the librarian revise the list and pull the "age inappropriate" books from the shelves. A very demoralizing time. Thankfully his tenure with our system was short.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

My worst was 7th grade. The teacher decided we couldn't pick our own books to write reports on. I wrote all four of mine the first week and she made me read every single one of the 12 books she'd picked because she thought I'd cheated. I hadn't read at that level since I was 7. The only good thing to come out of it was "A Wrinkle in Time."