I finally read the article that Lippy Libby posted in her recent post "Flaunting It." I normally don't think of the ALA as an "extreme advocate" of banned books. I think Kinzie school acted abominably, but is the ALA to blame? Doesn't the ALA argue for a review board so that librarians and teachers can deal with parental complaints fairly? Maybe having a "banned books" week is enough to make Byrne call the ALA "extreme," but I thought he could have done a better job educating the reader about the proper procedures schools should take when a book is challenged.
I'll be sharing Byrne with a sophomore English teacher who does an annual banned books project. Each student reads a banned book and then uses the ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom to research each challenge. This year, these students will not be writing a paper. Instead, they'll be debating this question: "should this book be taught in middle school?" This article is perfect for them!
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"Each student reads a banned book and then uses the ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom to research each challenge." This is a public school? I thought public schools were supposed to provide truthful information. Balanced information.
The ALA view of banned books is false and political in nature. The last book banned in the USA was in 1946, and the ALA could care less about Cuban librarians. Worse, I see no mention that any other view is provided.
Now maybe it didn't appear because this blog is so short. Okay. Here's some balance:
1) An article by Thomas Sowell about Banned Books Week really being NATIONAL HOGWASH WEEK.
2) The 1982 US Supreme Court case of Board of Education v. Pico.
Hi all - Finally made it to blogger land. (Better late than never). Interesting that you have a teacher assigning banned books. Good for him/her! If she'd ever like to hear about attempts at censorship* at their local library, I'd be willing to come in and talk about the issue with students. Too late for this year I assume, but maybe next year. Hope to see more blogging (quiet in November...).
*P.S. Maybe the better word to use instead of "banned" is "censored" because that is what we are really dealing with, and in this country censorship is certainly alive and well.
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