Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

“[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” ~Judy Blume Happy Banned Books Week! Never heard of it. Me either, until I began Grad School. Banned Books week is a week long event, which libraries all across the United States celebrate every year; a time for libraries to encourage people to enjoy a better sense of literary and intellectual freedom. Banned books become banned after they have first been Challenged. Look at this list and I think you will catch yourself saying, "why that book?" more than once. These are the top 100 challenged books of from 1990-2000. Banned Books are anything that a school or library board have voted to ban from the premises of the library after challenges have been made and a vote has been reached to remove the books for reasons varying from sexual content, expli...

A great read-information taken from: http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/april2007/ Why Libraries Matter More Than EverBy Cynthia Nikitin and Josh Jackson The ImaginOn Library in Charlotte, North Carolina The creation of the "information superhighway" threatened to make libraries obsolete, but today they are as prominent as ever. Libraries are taking on a larger civic role, redefining themselves as community centers for the 21st Century. The old model of the library was the inward-focused "reading room," the new one is more like a community "front porch." Read the full article » How to Make Your Library Great 14 lessons from local libraries all over the continent. Libraries and Placemaking Libraries are the new commons for the 21st Century. By Diantha Dow Schull Library Placemaking in Action Six success stories in community building. By Diantha Dow Schull Stumbling Blocks to Creating Great Civic Centers...and How to Overcome Them Solutions to four common pr...