Banned Books

September 25 – October 2 is Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. more…

Our school library has many of the books that have been challenged or banned in other places. We have one book, The Catcher in the Rye, that requires parental permission for a student to check it out as a result of a challenge a few years ago.

Some things to think about -

  • Should the librarian or school administrators be responsible for what students can and cannot read?
  • How do you know if a book is going to be appropriate and not offensive before you start reading it?
  • Is there value in reading books that are banned or challenged? Are they “bad” books?
  • What criteria would you use to determine whether a book should be banned? Would everyone agree with you?
  • 100 Classic books that have been challenged or banned
    Intellectual Freedom Statement
    Information on books that have been challenged or banned

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    DirectTV Goes to School!

    Through the DIRECTV GOES TO SCHOOL program, our schools each received a DIRECTV System® and educational programming package to enhance students’ classroom experience. More information…

    See the channel guide at http://www.usd384.org/library/tvinfo.htm

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    Read a classic Christmas story

    This is the perfect time to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Don’t have access to the book? No problem – read it here!

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    Reading Challenge

    Students are challenged to read 3 or more books from the 2009-2010 William Allen White list and/or the Picturing America grant books to receive a certificate and award at the end of the school year. At least one of the books must be at or near the student’s reading level.

    The top 3 readers will receive special recognition.

    Download the list in pdf format.

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    Picturing America

    Last year both of our libraries received Picturing America grants.

    Picturing America comes with a comprehensive package of materials that includes:
    • Forty large, high-quality color reproductions of the selected masterpieces (24” x 36”)
    • A comprehensive teachers resource book providing a wide range of ideas and background information to support educators using the works of art in core subject areas
    • Additional resources and lesson plans available through the Picturing America Web site

    These posters are available for classroom use.

    This year the libraries each received a grant for the Picturing America bookshelf. The We the People “Picturing America” Bookshelf is the literary complement of NEH’s Picturing AmericaSM visual arts project. Instead of paint, marble, silver, or glass, words are the media used to portray significant themes in American history and culture. Readers are invited to steer their way across the continent by river with Lewis and Clark in 1802, travel the railroad with Robert Louis Stevenson in 1879, or drive along the open highways with John Steinbeck and his dog Charley in 1960. Through the life and poetry of Walt Whitman emerge powerful images of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln; through the life and lens of Dorothea Lange we witness the impersonal forces and human faces of the Depression. more information

    The library will be sponsoring events and contests throughout the year to promote these items.

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