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Banned Books Week

post #1 of 10
9/30/09 at 10:30am
Thread Starter 
The college I teach at has a prominent display for Banned Books Week.

I thought this was an interesting look at the books that cause controversy in given communities.

The WSJ has an interesting take on the situation.

The Manifesto. Apparently a poem written specifically for the week.

A Google search for BBW Manifesto turns up that BBW.org had a link to the poem on their site but it has since been removed. Odd that.

Discuss.
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post #2 of 10
9/30/09 at 10:50am
One of my favorite librarian blogs reflects on the lack of coverage of Banned Books Week this year. The last paragraph of her post is thought-provoking -

Quote:
Originally Posted by librarian.net
I think we need to look hard at this list and draw some conclusions about what sort of people believe that restricting access to books for these reasons is both a good idea or a reasonable thing to expect to be able to get away with. And then, if we want to get serious, I think we need to hit these points directly and ask people why they’re afraid of sex, or gay people (or penguins), or swearing. It’s nice to say that “free people read freely” but it’s another to be in a situation where your institutions are getting pressured by people who are intolerant and thinking that speaking truth to power is all you need to do. I’ve talked a little more about this in the MetaFilter thread about Banned Books Week, it’s always a reflective time of year for me.
Do click through to visit some of the links that she has provided.
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post #3 of 10
9/30/09 at 10:51am
That WSJ article is a little misguided. People aren't asking these books to be removed because they think they're inappropriate for children. They're asking them to be removed because they contain ideas they don't like, and simply couching that argument in "We must protect our children" rhetoric.
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post #4 of 10
9/30/09 at 10:58am
I don't remember a banned books issue at a library where I grew up, but I do remember certain books not being allowed to be checked out. Mein Kampf was one of them.
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post #5 of 10
9/30/09 at 11:04am
At my brother's college the English Society (or something of that sort) is having a reading of banned books all week (or all day?) and he has to stand and read a chapter or two out of Slaughterhouse Five. I'm astounded that that was once a banned (or nearly banned?) book.

The only "censorship" I've had to deal with in my personal life is when an old librarian at my library refused to let me check out at Chuck Palahniuk book. I was over 18 with my own library card, and he simply refused to let me check it out, saying I didn't need to read it. I just picked it up and waked out of the library with it as he yelled at me, and then returned it after I had finished it.
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post #6 of 10
9/30/09 at 11:21am
I just read this a couple of weeks back, and it was pretty good although really, really short. Get it from your library if anything, but it's worth the read for Morrison's and Updike's essays alone.
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post #7 of 10
9/30/09 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pagoda View Post

The only "censorship" I've had to deal with in my personal life is when an old librarian at my library refused to let me check out at Chuck Palahniuk book. I was over 18 with my own library card, and he simply refused to let me check it out, saying I didn't need to read it. I just picked it up and waked out of the library with it as he yelled at me, and then returned it after I had finished it.
He was doing you a favor.
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post #8 of 10
9/30/09 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
That WSJ article is a little misguided. People aren't asking these books to be removed because they think they're inappropriate for children. They're asking them to be removed because they contain ideas they don't like, and simply couching that argument in "We must protect our children" rhetoric.
In my somewhat limited experience with the censorship of materials in public libraries, individuals ask for books to be removed from a collection both because they contain ideas that make them uncomfortable and because they perceive themselves as acting to protect the children in their community. The way in which these two motives interact is why the debate surrounding freedom to read tends to get so heated, so fast.

Back to the quote I posted above - I was in library school for three years. My degree program was focused on public service librarianship in an academic or public context, yet we never really had a concrete, careful discussion about what to do in the face of a challenge from a misguided community member. Sure, we had some debates on the matter, but there was never a guided conversation about how to diplomatically staple the Library Bill of Rights* to the forehead of a meddling, would-be censor.


* - Look around your own public library. It's probably on display somewhere. p.s. - pagoda, check out item #5. Shame on that censorious librarian.
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post #9 of 10
9/30/09 at 1:26pm
Nice to see that Georgia has absolutely NOTHING promoting awareness for this week.
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post #10 of 10
9/30/09 at 3:55pm
This is why Mrs H and I have our lovely little collection of banned or challenged books. We live in a part of Canada where we have no idea is Miss K will get access to said books at the local library or school library so we want to have them around. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a nice copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon?
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