library card

i was on imgur and this was the person's post:
"i quit WoW, renewed my library card and created my own list of RL quests to tackle on this summer!"
and then he had this picture:

i thought that was an amazing post! just wanted to share with everyone else.

brave new world banned

Like many great works of literature, Aldous Huxley's classic novel Brave New World has, at various times, been banned, challenged as a fraud, or otherwise pissed upon by the nitpicking masses. In this particular book's case, banning it is more than a little ironic, seeing as the book itself presents a society where almost no one reads books anymore. Regardless, the latest effort at prohibiting Huxley's opus comes from right here in Seattle at Nathan Hale High School.

As KUOW reports today, it seems a Native American student who was required to read the book took issue with the its depiction of native people. The girl's mom, Sarah Sense-Wilson, agreed and wrote the school to have it removed from the curriculum, writing: "(The book has a) high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society."

The school eventually agreed, promising to remove the book from students' required reading list and releasing a statement apologizing that the "cultural insensitivity embedded in this book makes it an inappropriate choice as a central text in our 10th grade curriculum."

In the book, Huxley tosses around the word "savage" frequently. His portrait of a mainstream society where babies are not born, but created in factories and bred into specific roles, is offset by a frontier-like outlying culture in which babies are still "born naturally." It's this culture which is owned by the "savages."

What Sense-Wilson and her daughter seem to be having trouble grasping is that the "savages" in the book are only called "savages" because the mainstream society which they aren't a part of is so perverted. In reality, Huxley's savages are indeed the heroes and the normal ones, while the drugged-out, apathetic test-tube people that populate the fictional mainstream culture are the oddballs.

Regardless, the parent and daughter seem content to cherry-pick various excerpts from the book as proof of its offensive nature, like: "'Remember that in the Reservation, children are born. Yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem. Those, I repeat, who are born on the Reservation are destined to die there.'"

Not only is Sense-Wilson offended by the language, she appears to think Brave New World is not at all well-written, either. She tells KUOW that it should be taken out of all Seattle schools and banished to the public library, but that even there, no one will want to read it. "Most of the kids I've talked to don't even like the book so I doubt it would even get an audience in the library."

Tell that the Modern Library who rated the book as No. 18 in its list of the "100 Best Novels" of all time, or to the tens of millions of readers who have thumbed through it since it was published in 1932.
 
-reported by curtis cartier for the seattle weekly blog 11/17/10

alan rickman reads!

alan rickman in his read poster for the american library association.

morton arboretum

a week or two ago i went to the morton arboretum and there were these scarecrows that different kid groups have made. boy scouts, girl scouts and other groups like that. well one group had made this scarecrow librarian. it was amazing. here are the pictures of it. the little signs at the bottom are book titles. hurray for books and librarys and scarecrows!

banned books week 2010

this year banned books week is from september 25 - october 2.

for those of you who don't know what banned books week is: from the american library association:
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them. The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings or restrictions.

this year chicago is kicking off banned books week with a readout in bughouse square (washington square park) on september 25th from 12pm-2pm. authors chris clutcher, lauren myracle, carolyn mackler and others will read from their work and share their experiences as targets of censors. after the readings there will be book signings from the authors in attendence. bughouse square is located on 901 N Clark St, Chicago, IL.

rizzoli and isles

so side note before i jump into my post. if your going to peg me as a certain type of reader, i would say i'm a fantasy reader. that is your safest bet. i do read other things. i read science fiction, fiction, poetry, historical fiction and from time to time, non-fiction. but i have never really picked up a mystery/murder book. well there is always a first.

i started watching the show rizzoli and isles on tnt. it's on monday's at 10/9c. it's a great show! i'm very sick of cop shows (it seems thats all that's on tv these days) but i really like this cop show. and i like this show because of the two main characters. i love how they are written. completely different people. rizzoli is a tomboy, shooting from the hip, kind of cop. she's had to work for what she has and she has the brains and the skill to stand behind what she does.she's just awesome. she's definatly street smart. i love her attitude. isles is from the rich side of life. very intelligent, book smart. but is good at her job also. takes things just a little too literal, but is quick on her feet. with both of them working together, they make a great team. sooooo as i was watching the show i realized that it is based off of a book series by tess gerritsen. so i decided that if i like the show i might like the books. i trotted on down to the library, in my jamies. for i refused to get dressed that day. hehe. and i got the first book in the series. which actually doesn't have isles in the book. she doesn't enter the series until the second book. but i got the first book called the surgeon. and so far, i love it! i've been hooked from the very first page. i can't wait to finish the book and i'm excited to get the next one. the characters are just as awesome in the book. and i love how tess gerritsen weaves her story. so if you like murder/mystery books, i say go and get this one. it will have you on the edge of your seat.

detriot librarys and mcdonalds team up for kids!

students in detriot are encouraged to visit their local library to pick up a mcdonald’s bookmark. each time they check out books, the card will be stamped by a librarian. once it’s stamped five times, the student can then take it to a local mcdonald’s in exchange for a complimentary happy meal or mighty kids meal. as an added incentive, each library will host a drawing every month and award a backpack and a $20 gift certificate redeemable at border’s bookstores to the lucky winner. entry forms can be filled out at one of the 24 library locations.

totally sweet! wish i lived in the detriot area.

library of the year

Ohio's Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) is the winner of the Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year Award 2010. congrats to them! you can read all about the library in this article.