The County Library discussion

Hello all,

In September, the American Library Association celebrates Banned Books Week, a celebration of books that have been banned or challenged in the previous year. This year's theme is "Censorship Keeps Us in the Dark: Leave the Light On". Your challenge is to visit the ala website, with the link below and pick a book from one of the challenge lists.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/fr...

For more information about Banned Books Week, visit the link below.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

Thanks for the links. Looking through the children's books I found the perfect title. Walter the Farting Dog. I have a cat that will lay you flat if she farts so it's a natural draw for me.

I am going to read Little Black Sambo. I read it as a child and I am interested to see what it is like now that I am an adult.

I read through the list of banned YA books and enjoyed rolling my eyes at all the choices. So many of the titles on that list have touched my life, mostly for the better!

anyway, I think I will read Lois Duncan's Daughters of Eve. I remember reading many of her books as a teenager and loving them. I also picked out Children in the Holocaust and WWII: Their Secret Diaries.

I have decided to re-read "Animal Farm" -- in large part because it is short. I'm listening to it on audio.

Finished my re-read of Animal Farm. I am interested to see what other people choose.

I'm reading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.

Brianon, right? I agree with the YA list. So many great books on there. They can be so useful to young people.

Carolyn, my favorite thing about Animal Farm is that it was banned in Russia for being to anti-communist, and banned in America for being to pro-communism. lol

Teresa, I think that's one of the most recently banned books out there. It was just last week, right? That the private school in Tennessee banned the entire series? Such a good series.

Danielle, I've not read George, but I've read Two Boys Kissing and enjoyed it. I hope you do too.

I was honestly surprised after reading the lists to see how many I had already read, but I decided to read some that have been in my TBR pile for a while. So I am going to read Thirteen reasons why by Jay Asher, and Paper Towns by John Green.

I finished The Story of Little Black Sambo. I know that the book was banned for being racist. Maybe the current addition is not as racist as the one I read when I was little, but all I remembered about that one was the tigers running around the tree and turning into butter. I didn't consider this version racist.

The newer editions have been called Little Brave Sambo as his skin color was not the most effective thing. Also the drawings in earlier editions (I haven't seen later editions) was very caricatureish in a negative way, i.e. oversized lips, oversize hands and feet. And the name Sambo was used as was Boy or N... for referring derisively to blacks.

Debbie wrote: "The newer editions have been called Little Brave Sambo as his skin color was not the most effective thing. Also the drawings in earlier editions (I haven't seen later editions) was very caricaturei..."

Thank you for the info. I didn't know that.

I honestly cannot fathom why every September there's a 'banned books' challenge. It's so tired. Probably some book I'm reading meets the challenge, but I'm not going to bother to research to find out.

I guess the theme can get old for some, but for libraries it is an annual celebration of our freedom to read anything we want and to explore ideas no matter how unpopular they are. It is a freedom that is continually challenged, especially in schools. Our inviting you to read a challenged book is also an invitation to think about the challenge itself and to think about what is lost when a book is banned (which does happen in schools).

There are books that are probably inappropriate for some readers (say young children), the mistake is made when parents or politicians attempt to limit access to all children because they don't find it appropriate for 5 year olds or for the children in their family. Those books that they don't approve of are often wonderfully rich and deep and help children and all of us grow.

Personally, I'd be good with doing Christmas every other year, but I'm very happy to celebrate challenged books every year.

I love Suzanne's comments so much! New books are challenged at schools every year. It is very interesting to me, even though my children have grown, to see what picture books have been deemed inappropriate or offensive enough for someone to say no child should read them. These books start very interesting discussions!

Suzanne! Your comment is wonderful and eloquent and I am applauding you! ♥ It's worth noting that our state was on the Banned/Challenged books field report for several reasons in 2018, though only one time was for a specific book -- Bingham High School had a challenge to the book The Things They Carried, our ebsco databases were under fire despite the importance they play in accessing information, and a Pride display in a southern Utah Library was directly challenged. Libraries play an incredibly important role in keeping information and stories accessible to all and the freedom to read is absolutely something I celebrate annually!

As far as reading goes, Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples made the top 10 challenged books in 2014 (at #6), and I've been looking for a reason to re-read.... so this might be it!

This is a bit of a tangent, but I actually started a book group several years ago and our first meeting was scheduled to be in September, which made a huge difference in selecting a book to read! Out of an ocean of books, I was able to find a book where we could not only talk about the book, but the importance of reading and having access to books. So! If you ever want to start a book club and are having trouble doing so, this is one place you could start, no matter what month it is! ;)

This particular challenge is almost over, has anyone else finished?

I agree with Greg. I thought it was my imagination that we were doing this repeatedly. Next year we really might want a different sort of topic. It's not like this is the only thing to celebrate for September. One thing, besides challenging censorship, that makes libraries invaluable is their breadth of perspective, encouraging a wide variety of sources and topics.

I haven't had the chance to sit down and read a whole lot outside of work, but I did read the official 2018 Field Report to Banned & Challenged books and it was a very enlightening read. I also tuned into a really excellent webinar series about banned books+comics for an hour each day this week where there've been some fantastic conversations about access and creation & the importance of telling stories. None of this counts as reading a banned/challenged book, but there are so many different ways to celebrate, and this may well be my favorite year yet.

Stephanie, that sounds like an awesome way to celebrate.

I kinda sorta think the Field Report should count. The purpose of the challenge is to get us thinking about banned books and what makes one more aware than the Field Report. Elizabeth, what do you think?

I have read Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle. I could see why it was challenged and banned, but boy did I laugh. The illustrations were priceless. I wish it had won the Caldecott Medal. Can you imagine the uproar?!!! I'm still laughing over the scene in the vet's office and later with poor Walter working and working to hold it all in.

Finished "Thirteen Reasons Why" and just starting "Paper Towns" which coincidentally fits perfectly into October's challenge

Mary,

As long as you don't finish reading Paper Towns today it'll count! Just make sure you read it in October too.

Our September 2019 reading challenge prize drawing winner is Stephanie for reading the 2018 Field Report to Banned & Challenged books.

Congratulations Stephanie!

Hooray, Stephanie!

Congratulations Stephanie

thank you! ♥ banned books week is my favorite week! celebrating the freedom to read is the very best.