28 Friday Sep 2018
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Thanks to a heads up from the Scout Report, Google Books now lets you preview books that have been banned. Take a look and pick out one to read!
https://books.google.com/googlebooks/banned/
Sarah Uthoff by the 2018 Banned Books Week
Close Up of 2018 Display
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
24 Monday Sep 2018
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One of the many databases that Kirkwood Library Services provide for students, faculty, and staff is the full text version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Once a paper monster taking up shelves of space, it’s now fully searchable and available to all of Kirkwood on campus or (with a k-number log-in) off campus.
If you’re looking for a short review of a topic, possible keywords for other searching, or images, short videos, etc. to get your research started. Encyclopedia Britannica is for you!
One of the many topics they cover is Banned Books. They’ve compiled a list of 8 frequently banned books and paired each with a photo of the author, a short description of the book, and how and why it was censored.
https://www.britannica.com/list/8-banned-books-through-time
Want to learn more? Start off with our Credo database’s Censorship topic page. It will not only give you links of stuff to access in Credo itself, but also brings up the best stuff in our other databases. Take a look!
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
26 Tuesday Sep 2017
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In the United States when people talk about Banning a Book normally what they mean is that there has been what is called a Challenge. In a Challenge someone tries to make a public entity stop people from reading a book, by removing it from library shelves, making it harder to get to by keeping it behind the desk, or removing it from classroom curriculum. Sometimes these efforts are successful, most of the time not.
It has long been a focal point of the American Library Association. They support people fighting bans whether ALA members or not and endeavor to track instances of Challenges. This office is called the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). Their studies have shown up to 85% of challenges go unreported so they’ve made it easier for people to report a challenge.
Learn more about their efforts.
Follow the guide to reporting a challenge.
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
25 Monday Sep 2017
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This year’s theme is Words Have Power. The theme of this year’s Banned Books Week is superheroes, Words Have Power (September 24 – September 30, 2017).
Here are some ideas on how to recognize Banned Books Week.
Stop by the Kirkwood Community College Library on the Main Campus in Cedar Rapids to see our display during the next two weeks and watch for proud banned books button wearers around campus.
Banned Books Display 2017
We celebrate Banned Books Week each year here at Kirkwood Community College, where we stand up for intellectual freedom and how our Constitution gives us the right to read whatever we want. What do people try to ban?
Find links to previous years lists on this page. Click on the covers to bring up the list.
You can also find them sorted by the most frequently banned books by decade.
We sometimes get asked about booking banning and book banning in Iowa. The Iowa ACLU provides this list of such cases. You need to scroll past the boilerplate to get to the list of books banned in Iowa.
Sarah Uthoff and Display
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
29 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in Uncategorized
Most of the time when we talk about Banned Books in the United States we mean that a particular book has been challenged for various reasons (mostly language, sex, magic – magic gets it from both sides of the political spectrum, but general diversity depiction is increasing). Sometimes the book is retained in the library, sometimes it’s pulled, but almost always in the United States – as opposed to many other countries – there remains the ability to get the book someplace else near by.
This year we had a title where protest lead a book to actually be recalled by the publisher and remaining copies destroyed. The danger people always talk about is the government banning books, but in most cases even when a government agency bans a book you can still get copies of that book somewhere in the world. In this case, you can’t. Is it a good book? Probably not, but I don’t know because we weren’t given the chance to find out.
Certainly every book written doesn’t deserve to be published and many books are destroyed just from printings that don’t sell, but this book had made it through the editorial process. Executives had made no objection to this book – which I’m sure they saw as inclusive at the time of publication – until outside pressure was applied.
A Birthday Cake for George Washington is a fictionalization of a real life story of a slave named Hercules. My report on the objections below is based on things said in the news. I have not seen the book nor talked to any of the participants in the protests.
The main objection seems to be his attitude. Would Hercules be proud of his job? Would he be smiling while he worked? Objections were also made to the fact that, while it was in the author’s note, the story itself doesn’t mention the fact that Hercules ran away the year after the picture book was set. Which reinforces the idea that he wouldn’t have been proud or happy about his work baking George Washington’s birthday cake.
For a round up of news coverage from the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association:
http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=6076
The real danger of this isn’t the pulling of this one particular book, but the precedent it sets. Even if you 100% agree with this decision and are angry that it took them so long be aware of the issue once a precedent has been set the next angry protest might be from a group or over a topic you do NOT agree with and it is now more likely to fall.
(The article also mentions A Fine Dessert – See note below)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/17/scholastic-george-washington-book-slave-controversy
There is certainly a case to be made that the book is insensitive and should never have been published in the first place. It was – I personally suspect – greenlit in part because of a major push last year pointing out the troubling lack of diversity in children’s books, especially in picture book illustration. They saw this as a step towards reversing that trend.
The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association points out the clash between the concern over freedom from censorship encouraging the free flow of ideas versus the efforts to address the clear diversity issue in children’s literature. Clearly an argument can be made for both sides.
http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=6039
I’m sure some critics would be surprised that, as noted by NPR, the book was produced “by a diverse group of people of color” including editor Andrea Davis Pinkney who previously won the Coretta Scott King Award for her work. They have mounted a defense of the book.
(Again see note below for A Fine Dessert reference)
Answering charges of censorship, Scholastic itself assures us that it was recalled because failure to meet their standards. Standards that it apparently met when it was published a short time before. They reject the censorship narrative as any publisher probably would in a similar situation. Their statement, read the text at the link below, points out that they publish other books that are challenged regularly in libraries without taking similar steps.
A friend recently pointed out a title that suffered a similar fate, An Apple Pie for Lewis from 1951. It’s the story of a boy waiting all year for apples to ripen so his grandmother will bake him an apple pie. It happened to be written by Helen Kay who was called before the McCarthy hearings and plead the 5th Amendment. This was her book that happened to be out at the time. Although she was later able to publish other titles, this one was pulled by bookstores and libraries and is basically unavailable today.
http://www.leroyny.com/digital-editions/2013/ps092913/files/assets/basic-html/page11.html
I checked the three main used book sites – Amazon, Alibris, and Abe Books – and none of them had a copy. I then checked another picture book from 1951 that I happened to know about – A Pony for Linda by C.W. Anderson – and there were copies available on all three. So the book is not readily available elsewhere. That’s an example I’m sure none of us agree with.
So there you have it, the case of the pulled and unavailable book. Do you think this was censorship? Do you think it was justified? What if another group you don’t agree with tries to accomplish the same thing? Censorship is a dangerous issue and one everyone should think about.
Note: A Fine Dessert is a picture book that shows how a recipe is passed down from colonial times to today as cooking methods change. It is a clever idea for a book and while the writing definitely wouldn’t win any prizes, it’s not bad. There are a couple of minor food history errors – which is unfortunate since it’s one of the major themes of the book – but its inclusion in the above article was due to its ham-fisted depiction of a slave family preparing the recipe. It was both disruptive to the story and not realistic. The author’s note especially was unfortunate because it kind of read as if all African-American history is slave history. However, you can tell that both the author and illustrator were patting themselves on the back for being “inclusive” not only with the slave family, but also by having a man cooking in the final part of the story. The author has figured out that she didn’t do such a great thing after all and has since classified the book as “racially insensitive.” The major difference for this post is that book was allowed to rise or fall on the market while A Birthday Cake for George Washington never had that chance. Also, despite its less than stellar execution you should recognize it was a brilliant idea for a book.
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
26 Monday Sep 2016
Posted in Uncategorized
The theme of this year’s Banned Books Week is superheroes, Standing Up For Your Right to Read (September 25 – October 1, 2016).
Courtesy of ALA
Stop by the Kirkwood Community College Library on the Main Campus in Cedar Rapids to see our display during the next two weeks and watch for proud banned books button wearers around campus.
We celebrate Banned Books Week each year here at Kirkwood Community College, where we stand up for intellectual freedom and how our Constitution gives us the right to read whatever we want. What do people try to ban?
The top 10 books Americans tried to ban in 2015
Find links to previous years lists on this page. Click on the covers to bring up the list.
You can also find them sorted by the most frequently banned books by decade.
We sometimes get asked about booking banning and book banning in Iowa. The Iowa ACLU provides this list of such cases. You need to scroll past the boilerplate to get to the list of books banned in Iowa.
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
02 Friday Oct 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
People often ask us about the books included in our display. The lists below are an annual collection of reports of book banning and attempted book banning from around the country as collected by the American Library Association (ALA). We draw our display books from these annual lists and all time most banned lists. This year Banned Books Week is September 27-October 3, 2015. Please stop by either library branch and check out our displays.
Here is a list of the books most banned 2014-2015
Find links to previous years lists on this page. Click on the covers to bring up the list.
You can also find them sorted by the most frequently banned books in each decade.
We sometimes get asked about booking banning and book banning in Iowa. The Iowa ACLU provides this list of such cases.
Find additional sources here.
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
27 Sunday Sep 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Kirkwood Banned Books Display 2015
Theme this year is:
YA books are aimed at students 12-18 years old although many outside that range read them. Many are problem novels depicting hard situations including alcoholism, sexual abuse, cutting, etc. Others, in an effort to be seen as realistic by teens who consistently describe books with profanity more realistic than those without, use language that some adults object to in books for teens. Still others deal with fantasy and magic which is attacked by both ends of the political spectrum for different reasons. Read more about the history of YA books here. Read about some examples on this list.
Read a piece by a YA author about why you shouldn’t ban or challenge YA books.
Find a list of frequently challenged books.
The top 10 challenged books of 2014.
If you’d like a banned books button to wear, stop by the Cedar Rapids branch of Library Services and ask at the Reference Desk. Be sure to check out the social media feeds for
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
29 Monday Sep 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
American Library Association, Banned Books, Banned Books Week, Frequently Challenged Books, Why Banned
Kirkwood Banned Book Display
Many bookstores, schools and libraries celebrating Banned Books Week will showcase selections from the ALA OIF’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2013. The list is released each spring and provides a snapshot of book removal attempts in the U.S. The Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2013 reflects a range of themes. Below each title is the reason or reasons it was challenged. The top 10 list consists of the following titles:
19 Friday Sep 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
People often ask us about the books included in our display. The lists below are an annual collection of reports of book banning and attempted book banning from around the country as collected by the American Library Association (ALA). We draw our display books from these annual lists and all time most banned lists. This year Banned Books Week is September 21−27, 2014, please stop by either library branch and check out our displays.
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2012-2013 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2011-2012 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2010-2011 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2009-2010 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2008-2009 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2007-2008 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2006-2007 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2005-2006 (PDF)
Books Challenged and/or Banned – 2004-2005 (PDF)
You can also find them sorted by the most frequently banned books in each decade:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/ind
We sometimes get asked about booking banning and book banning in Iowa. The Iowa ACLU provides this list of such cases:
http://www.aclu-ia.org/challenged-books-in-iowa-banned-books-week-2013
Find additional sources here:
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org
Sarah Uthoff is a reference library at Kirkwood Community College. LIKE the Kirkwood Community College Library on Facebook and find links to Sarah all over the web at her About Me Profile.
