Banned Books Week

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Next week is officially Banned Books Week.  I don't usually post much about it here, because I already have plenty going on at work.  This year I somehow wound up sort of in charge of the event, which is kind of panic-inducing.  Luckily my full-time co-worker is doing the budgeting part and actually knows what she's doing.

I've spent the past few weeks trying to get the event together.  Today we did the decorating and strung yellow 'Caution' tape around the place until the word 'caution' became meaningless to me.  We scattered books wrapped in brown paper around the library--each has a label on it with a title and the reason the book has been challenged or banned.  Since I like history, I have some volumes that say things like "The Bible in English" and so on. 

What the books looked like last year


And our display tables went up with tri-fold boards explaining what the event is all about.  One of the other part-time librarians made a gorgeous board about book burnings.  It's a work of art.  I'll take pictures and post them later.

Last year's display table


I also tried to put together a 'virtual read-out' video with some students.  The video people on campus were very helpful and it's not done yet, but I hope it works....

I love the artwork the ALA put out this year, and we've got the bookmarks and posters, plus some pins we made ourselves.  We coveted the t-shirts, but alas, those were far above our budget.  (But wouldn't it have been cool to order a few for our student helpers to wear during their shifts?)  

All this leaves me little time for actually reading any banned books. Besides, they're all out on the display table, hopefully attracting students' attention.  I've got my eye on a few for afterwards. :)




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