Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Something most libraries/librarians have been watching VERY closely. I can't believe we have to fight so hard to protect our libraries and schools in our country. Sad panda. Colleagues, I’m pleased, but with important cautions, to tell you that all of our collective work to Fight for Libraries! is poised to pay off dramatically. Key parts of the House Appropriations Subcommittee bill that is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 EDT were released late this afternoon. The bill does NOT cut last year’s funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Once final, that would mean no cuts to LSTA in this critical first vote stage! (We’ll know about Innovative Approaches to Literacy tomorrow.  Now the cautions… While unlikely, an amendment could be offered to the bill that changes the IMLS appropriation. In addition, after tomorrow’s vote, there will be at least two further procedural opportunities for the bill to be amended. After the House acts, of ...

It is absolutely fitting that THIS week-- Banned Books Week --should find me with a book challenged by one of our patrons. I know, I know, it probably doesn't count, since the library's book challenge form has been sitting in the Director box for a while before I even started, but it is COOL! I get to take this book to the Board and review it. Also, went to ALA's website to report the challenge; sharing what is challenged/banned at your library with the ALA helps others stay informed, and helps the ALA's statistics of challenged/banned books. The form is here .

"Books on Trial" a video by the Mentor, OH public library   Today marks the 2nd day of Banned Books Week 2012-- GET OUT THERE AND READ SOME CHALLENGED OR BANNED!!

Today marks the first day AND the 30th Anniversary of Banned Books Week! Books are challenged for a slew of reasons: language, sexuality, immorality, anti-church, anti-government, anti-adults, sentiments of witchcraft, you name it.   Why do we celebrate Banned Books Week? Well, we celebrate it in the hopes of raising awareness about these challenged/banned books (many of which are considered classics!), and also because we believe that people should have free access to and the ability to read whatever they want—each person should be able to judge what is best for him/herself! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO READ!   For a list of most frequently challenged and banned books, click here . Also, thought I would share some quotes from some of my favorite books which have all been challenged and/or banned too! I am a REBEL! “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you'r...

Celebrate Banned Books Week 2008 : September 27–October 4 Banned Books Week was created to help celebrate one of our greatest American freedoms! Our right to expression! We celebrate Banned Books Week the last week of each September. What does it all mean? What does it mean when someone says a book has been challenged? What does it mean if someone says a book has been banned? Per the American Library Association, "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...The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely 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." What you can do to celebrate your FREEDOM to read! Feel like a V.P. candidate for a day: Go to your local library and ask about their c...