Banned Books Week 2011

Unshelved.com

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Banned Books Week. I personally like to sit in very visible public place in my Intellectual Freedom Fighter t-shirt and a copy of "The Anarchist Cookbook," but you may have a more subtle way to show your disdain of censorship.

There is plenty you can do, libraries and bookstores all over the country host Banned Books Week events. You can watch YouTube videos of your favorite authors reading from Banned Books as well as other promotional videos.

If you're more the social networking type, you can follow Banned Books Week news and events on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. 

You can check out the ALA's Ideas & Resources page to create your own Banned Books Week event or you can see what other organizations are doing to support Intellectual Freedom. There are plenty of ways to get involved and show your support.

My favorite thing on the BBW website is the map of challenges to book in libraries and schools. The map only shows the reported incidents; the ALA estimates 70-80% of challenges go unreported.

Don't be complacent about censorship. It is never acceptable in a free society for someone else to tell you what you can and cannot read the same as it is unacceptable for someone to tell you what you can and cannot think. 

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." -Heinrich Heine

Top 10 Challenged Books in 2010

And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit

Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit

The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group

Lush, by Natasha Friend
Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint

Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit

Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group

Mad Librarian Skillz

A friend of mine is getting married this weekend and while talking to her at her bridal shower a few weeks ago, she told me about a Thoreau quote they wanted to use at the wedding. They could not, however, figure out where the quote came from.

Being the good librarian/information junkie I am, I offered my services.

She emailed me the quote and I dug in. I figured a Google search was in order first and if I had no luck I would go to the library and use a quote dictionary. Well, the Great Google did not fail me (All hail the Great Google!).

It turned out the quote is not from one source, but three. My friends probably found it on one of those quotation websites, which are none too reliable, and couldn’t find the citation because they’ve been searching the whole quote (which was misquoted at any rate therefore harder to find), not the parts.

Helpful Librarian Hint: When choosing a quote for a special occasion (i.e. wedding, baptism, bar/bat mitzvah, etc.) use a quotation dictionary. This kind of dictionary ensures correct wording and source and you can usually search by who said it, beginning of quote, and/or subject. It’s a very useful tool.

I was able to track down all three parts of the quote with relative ease because I’ve been trained on research techniques and it’s what I do for a living. In fact, I was not only able to verify that all parts were, in fact, originally Thoreau, but I was also able to find what they are cited from (including a direct links to places on the web where the original can be found; thanks Google Books (All hail!)), and the original wording of all three.

Helpful Librarian Hint: If you are having trouble with any search topic, try adjusting or rearranging the wording, shortening the search terms, using synonyms, and don’t be afraid of Booleans! Booleans are your friends!

Now my friends will be able to use a more accurate Thoreau quote, or quote mash-up, to begin their married life which will obviously be better luck than using some dubious thing from a quotation website. I have just saved their marriage from the dark cloud that covers all things tainted by faulty research.

This is why librarians are necessary.

Post Script: I’m aware this entire article is rather self-satisfied and smarmy. Deal with it, I’m awesome.

Save the Librarians

Do other professions spend as much time as mine defending their existence? I tend to think not. I very much doubt other people suffer the indignity of being asked, “You need a degree for that?” whenever you tell a new person what you do for a living.

True statements about librarians:

1) The profession requires at least a Master’s degree

2) School librarians require a Master’s and teaching certification

3) Some library professions require additional certification and/or a second Master’s degree

4) We do not read books all day

5) Dewey Decimal is not the only classification system

6) Books are not the only thing we know about nor the only resource our institutions contain

7) We are not all senior citizens

8) We don’t all even love books (though it is true the majority of us do)

I do not think there is a more misunderstood or underappreciated group of people in the world. My point is proven by what is going on in a Los Angeles school system right now as reported in this LA Times article.

80+ school librarians were given their walking papers in March. The school system, like many others across the country, is making budget cuts and decided the best place to trim the fat was the school libraries. After all, school librarians do not actually teach, at least that is what the LA Unified School District is trying to prove in a “courtroom.”

Their argument is that the school librarians are not eligible to retain their teaching certification, and can therefore be fired, because they have not taught a class in over 5 years, which is a requirement to keep your certification current. There is almost no response to this except jaw-dropping astonishment.

A school librarian, a good one at any rate, is a resource not only to students, but to teachers and faculty as well. They teach valuable research skills encouraging students to get information from a variety of resources so they have a full picture. The obtain materials for teachers to expand and enhance their curriculum. They work one-on-one with more students than most teachers have time to. They tutor in every subject. They know where you can find the best information regarding everything from the Theory of Relativity to Beethoven’s Symphonies, and no, it’s not always in a book.

Librarians provide the resources to create a well-rounded society that asks questions and does not jump on the conveyor belt whenever they’re told. Yes we are the keepers of the books but we are also the keepers of the databases. We know Google search tricks and Boolean operators you’ve never even heard of. Got a new electronic device? One of the librarians can give you the best websites explaining the features and how to use them or they might even be able to tell you themselves.

People seem to be very attached to the forbidding image libraries have been saddled with and I can’t figure out why. Today’s libraries are bright, open places that not only provide access to books but internet access, eBooks, cafes, community space, movies, video games, and more for FREE. Most libraries have plants and skylights and a cat, invariably named Dewey, everyone loves, and most importantly, every library has librarians. The people who tell you how to find all that magical free stuff.

And we’re not all old ladies with bad fashion sense and wire-rimmed glasses at the end of our noses. I have great fashion sense and wear contacts most of the time thank you very much. And I’m nice, I like helping you find what you’re looking for. Chances are I’ll find what you’re looking for plus something better plus ten things you didn’t know you were looking for. It’s what we do. We like information, we like finding it, in any format.

My degree is not in books. My degree is a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences. Stories like the one in the LA Times are too frequent. Funding and support for libraries are too low. Understand what we do and how we do it. Understand how passionate we are about it and how hard we will fight to keep it.

The Library of Congress: The Happiest Place on Earth (& the Interwebz)

Photo by AbLib

As a librarian, one of the highlights of my life was when I was in graduate school and we took a field trip to DC. The field trip was actually to attend the National Book Festival, held every year on the Mall, but our first stop of the day was at the Library of Congress. We were given a tour and then we had a Q&A session with three librarians from the LoC in the Senate Reading Room (which is, obviously, generally reserved for Senators therefore awesome to hang out in).

I bring this up to illustrate how awesome the LoC is because, they have outdone themselves. They have created the National Jukebox making historic recordings freely available to the public. The digital collection contains recordings from the LoC Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation collection as well as collections from other institutions across the country.

There are (as of this post) over 10,000 recordings from 1901-1925 from the Victor Talking Machine Company (now owned by Sony). The Jukebox will continue to add content from Sony-owned US companies. Right now, Sony is the only label contributing, but I’m sure we will see more joining up in the future.

There is a fantastic slideshow available tracking the progress of the project which began in 2010.

The Jukebox lets you create a playlist or listen to playlists already completed (I’m listening to the LoC-created “Early Tin Pan Alley” playlist right now!). You can browse recordings by performer, genre, date, composer, etc. plus there are general and advanced search options.

It is beautifully designed and completely fascinating. Set aside some time to browse these nearly forgotten treasures.

The Dynamic Biblio!

Ok, so maybe I need to work on my superhero name.

In my internet travels, I recently came across this short article.

Now I will be the first to say that I have absolutely no idea what this book is actually about, and from trying to do some more internet research, no one else knows either. It is apparently going to be a fantasy, but apart from the epic tagline, there isn’t much more to go on.

But let us look at that tagline: “What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?”

Just based on that, as soon as I’m done here, I’m going to see if I can pre-order on Amazon yet. I mean if you want a great hook, look no further. Some ad rep just earned their paycheck. The fact that librarianship has become a pop culture meme is fantastic and more than a little hilarious.

Librarians are already every-day superheroes in real life, it is only fitting that we become so in print. Be nice to your local librarian, you can’t be sure what their super power is.

I think the Librarian Avengers put it best:

Ok, sure. We’ve all got our little preconceived notions about who librarians are and what they do. Many people think of librarians as diminutive civil servants, scuttling about “Sssh-ing” people and stamping things. Well, think again buster.

Librarians have degrees. They go to graduate school for Information Science and become masters of data systems and human/computer interaction. Librarians can catalog anything from an onion to a dog’s ear. They could catalog you.

Librarians wield unfathomable power. With a flip of the wrist they can hide your dissertation behind piles of old Field and Stream magazines. They can find data for your term paper that you never knew existed. They may even point you toward new and appropriate subject headings.

People become librarians because they know too much. Their knowledge extends beyond mere categories. They cannot be confined to disciplines. Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the masses. They preserve every aspect of human knowledge. Librarians rule. And they will kick the crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

Yes...you have to go to school for that

Being a member of the American Library Association, every month I receive my issue of American Libraries. I even read it most of the time. This month it included this article by Jason Smalley discussing the librarian identity crisis facing many of us with library degrees these days. The fact that I am not alone in the paralyzing fear of being asked my profession is both parsimoniously comforting and horribly depressing.

I am a librarian. I consider myself a librarian and I have the degree to back me up. However, like Smalley, I do not earn my living by working in a library. I work for a database company and I enjoy my job most days. I even get to work with library catalogs and metadata which I absolutely love. None of this changes the fact that my job title does not contain the word “librarian” causing me no small amount of psychological anguish.

I still say that I’m a librarian when people ask what I do and most are satisfied with that. It’s the rest of you out there, the people who need details, who are really lining the money in some future therapist’s pocket. You people that can’t leave well enough alone and just have to ask, “So what library do you work for?” This is the social situation that causes my heart to skip a beat, my lungs to seize, and a deer-in-headlights look to appear in my eyes. Then the shameful truth comes out, “Well I don’t actually work at a library…” I can hear you judging me at this point, “Well why did she say she was a librarian then if she doesn’t work in a library?”

Here is the problem I have with people who think this judgment at me: you probably are one of the 9 out of 10 people who didn’t even know you need a Master’s Degree to be a librarian in the first place. So while you’re over there being Judgy McJudgerson, I am desperately trying to cling to my bookish self-respect and grapple with the fact that there really are no “real” library jobs right now due to the horrible state of the economy (it is a post for another day howmessed up it is that libraries, of all institutions, are having their budgets slashed to pieces in an economic crisis that would actually benefit from more information for the public).

The fact is, when I got my degree (Master of Library and Information Sciences) it says I get “all rights and privileges appertaining” and one of those privileges is to call myself a Librarian even when I do not work in a library. I worked very hard for that degree and I will forever identify myself as a Librarian because I can and because that, at the heart of everything I do in my non-library job, is what I am.

I like to eat and pay my bills as much as the next person, which is why I work at a database company instead of wallowing in psychological anguish. The education required for my chosen profession that I can’t technically claim didn’t come cheap.

So next time you just have to follow up that question either don’t, or don’t judge me for proclaiming “Librarian.” Preferably, just don’t.

Happy Banned Books Week!

Every year during the last week of September, the American Library Association sponsors a glorious librarian holiday season called Banned Books Week. It’s a wonderful time of year when libraries and bookstores and all free citizens are encouraged to revel in their First Amendment rights.

Now I could go into a very long, involved, well-researched essay on censorship and its evils (seriously, I have a paper from college that goes into wonderful detail if you’re interested), but I will not (and I can hear the sighs of relief…). What I will do is share with you a few things from the ALA Banned Books Week site that I find interesting and generally wonderful.

Books Challenged or Banned in 2009-2010

This is just a sample, click on the link for the full list and the reason why:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Block

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Deal With It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL by Esther Drill

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Sex for Busy People: The Art of the Quickie for Lovers on the Go by Emily Dubberley

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Cartoons That Shook the World by Jytte Klausen

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary by Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell

How to Get Suspended and Influence People by Adam Selzer

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Banned Books Week Proclamation

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “Objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, American still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week 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; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Library celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Library encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Library encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

Library Bill of Rights

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries that make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.