CHANGES of schedule!

i apologize, but due to necessity, we have moved the discussion the November 4 discussion for

Roll of Thunder,

Hear My Cry

by Mildred Taylor

October 28 at 7pm

hope to see you tomorrow!

join us for the last book discussion in this

Let's Talk About It series on November 18 for

The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame

halloween is less than a week away...

... are you ready? have you been reading your scary books in preparation of the big night? have you already scared yourself silly?!

i make it a priority to read something scary this time of year, and i finally picked up Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box.

what a wicked good read!!

i actually listened to it, and this guy* is a master storyteller. he wove such a great story around an aging heavy metal singer and the dead man's suit he bought over the internet. we are the same age, and i loved references to our similar popular culture influences--that stuff always makes a story seem more realistic to me.

altho, i'm not addicted to this genre; i have read plenty horror novels, and i have to say i was a more little freaked out by this book!

so tell us: what is your favorite horror novel? don't be shy that's what the comment board is for!

*this guy is the son of the great stephen king!

no wonder the book rocks!

** for more book suggestions, check out the what to read blog! reading lists and interesting tidbits...

Let's Talk About It: I Am the Cheese

join us Tuesday night at 7pm for our discussion of

I Am The Cheese
by Robert Cormier

A boy's search for his father becomes a desperate journey to unlock a secret past. But it is a past that must not be remembered...if he is to survive.

"AN ABSORBING, EVEN brilliant job. The book is assembled in mosaic fashion: a tiny chip here, a chip there. . . . Everything is related to something else; everything builds and builds to a fearsome climax. . . . Cormier . . . has the knack of making horror out of the ordinary, as the masters of suspense know how to do." - The New York Times Book Review

don't have the books for Let's Talk About It yet?
hurry in to the library and get yours today at the 3rd floor desk!

be sure to visit the on-line book club for discussion questions from the meeting! our next discussion is November 4 at 7pm for

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

November is just around the corner!!

it's that time of year again!

National

Novel

Writing

Month!

or as we like to say

NaNoWriMo!

want to know more?

join us on October 21 at 6pm at the library for a quick review about what it is we are doing for 30 days in November

Let's Talk About It: Charlotte's Web

join us Tuesday night at 7pm for our discussion of
Charlotte's Web

by E. B. White

First published in 1952, it tells the story of a barn spider named Charlotte and her friendship with a pig named Wilbur

In the New York Times, Eudora Welty wrote, "As a piece of work it is just about perfect, and just about magical in the way it is done."

don't have the books for Let's Talk About It yet?

hurry in to the library and get yours today at the 3rd floor desk!

be sure to visit the on-line book club for discussion questions from the meeting!

next discussion is October 21 at 7pm for I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

i know i'm not the children's librarian...

... but I wanted to tell you that I was lucky enough today to have lunch with children's author Gary Hogg.
Okay, maybe not "like he was at my table" lunch with him, but he was in front of the group of us Idaho librarians talking about this books and the magic of libraries while i enjoyed my turkey croissant... and who chose the cake with coconut and walnuts?!

Anyway, of course, I haven't read his books because I read grown-up books because I don't work with the little ones. However, I just bought several today because he was such a great speaker, I can't wait to read them with my kids. If you are looking for a fun character to share with your kids (especially boys), try reading one of Gary's books about Spencer's Adventures:

• Hair in the Air
• Stop That Eyeball!
• Garbage Snooper Surprise
• Don't Bake That Snake
• Let Go of That Toe
• The Great Toilet Paper Caper

and don't forget his several picture books, including...

• I Heard of a Nerd Bird
• Friendship in the Forest
• Look What the Cat Dragged In!
• Beautiful Buehla and the Zany Zoo Makeover

Be sure to visit with Sarah and all of the lovely ladies who actually do work with the kids, and ask them about Gary Hogg's books... and then be sure to come up the ramp to grab a little something for you too!

see you in the library!

*i'm allergic to coconut and walnuts

Banned Book Week...

Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW's 27th anniversary.

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

What's the difference between a challenge and a banning?
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Celebrating Your Freedom to Read is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Why are books challenged?
Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information. See Censorship and Challenges and Notable First Amendment Cases.

Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:

“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of he opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the
clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” — On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

According to the The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books, Challenges by Initiator, Institution, Type, and Year, the top three reasons, in order, for challenging material are the material is considered to be “sexually explicit” contain “offensive language,” and be “unsuited to age group.”

Who challenges books?
Throughout history, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted—and continue to attempt—to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs.

In his book Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, Nat Hentoff writes that “the lust to suppress can come from any direction.” He quotes Phil Kerby, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, as saying, “Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second.”

According to the The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books, Challenges by Initiator, Institution, Type, and Year, parents challenge materials more often than any other group.
At the Idaho Falls Public Library, we also face book challenges. We do appreciate the concerns of our patrons, and take their challenges very seriously. Some of the books that have been challenged in the last 4 years include:

• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson... Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
• The Fashion Disaster That Changed My Life by Lauren Myracle... Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
• Where Did I Come From by Peter Mayle... Sexually Explicit
• The Cat Who Killed Lillian Jackson Braun by Robert Kaplan... Offensive Language
• El Vaquero, El Libro Policiaco, etc... (Spanish language "Fotonovelas") by various authors... Sexually Explicit

We also have had movies challenged, and this is what the patrons commented...

• A Bridge Too Far (June 1977)... "too much violence and swearing for the PG rating"
  
• Millions (April 2004)... "NOT A KIDS MOVIE!!"
  

All of the background information on banned and challenged books came directly from the American Library Association's website. If you are interested in more information, please check out their site. If you'd like to read some challenged books, come visit with ME!

and the question of the week:

what is your favorite banned book?

leave us a comment...

see you in the library!

(click on the titles, and read more about the item, the publisher's comments and reviews)