I know, I know- it's been a while sine I last wrote. But in that time there's been a lot going on. Once again, Edible Books was was great! We had 19 entries, with some tough competition. I'm really hoping that next year we can get more student involvement, maybe move the date a little bit so it doesn't conflict as much with the year-end madness of projects, papers, and presentations.

Diane and I are still working though survey results, hoping to have a report compiled sometime this summer. I know it sounds kinda dull, but the product of all of our work could be really exciting. It can be difficult to gauge how students feel about the library, because it's usually not the number one topic in conversation around here. But with this survey I've gotten a very diverse picture of how everyone from Bio to Philosophy majors use the resources here. Ideally, I'd love to see our report  enact some changes at Myrin to help us keep up with the people who need this library the most - the students.

Today is the first meeting for the planning of Edible Books this year! Diane Skorina, the other reference intern Lindsay and myself have a lot to do to get ready. First there's a theme to pick (something about April Fool's since competition day is April 2!), then we have to get some press photos and releases together. Then, most importantly, deciding on what to make! I know Lindsay already has something up her sleeve, but isn't saying what just yet.

Last year I think I did pretty well with my Clan of the Cave Bear graham cracker cave and gummy bears, but think year I want to take it to the next level. I'm thinking since it's a bit of an April Fool's theme I might try and to a Vonnegut inspired piece, though I'm pretty sure someone already did Breakfast of Champions. But I don't want to give away my entire project! Maybe there will be a few more hints in the weeks to come.

I'm really looking forward to the competition this year. Last spring we had record numbers of participants and the food was really really tasty. I'd love to see even more creativity and activity this time around! Hopefully this event can just keep getting bigger and bigger!

As an Ursinus student, I'm an English major with a minor in Film Studies. I write for the Grizzly newspaper and am currently president of the Ursinus Literary Society. I'd love to hear from people, so don't hesitate to leave comments or get in contact with me. My e-mail is abraymond (at) ursinus (dot) edu

Myrin Library’s 3rd Annual First Friday Winter Open-Mic Entertainment Program will be held on Friday, December 5th, 2008, at Jazzman’s Café in Myrin Library from 3-4:00 p.m.  Refreshments will be available at 2:45.

Come spread warmth and joy at the beginning of the winter holiday season, both in words and music (or even in silence if you are a mime)! Everyone is invited to participate — this is open mic! If you have a fun song to sing, or play, and are looking for an intimate but supportive venue for its debut, or if you’d like to read a cheerful poem, or recite an entertaining monologue or dance a minimalist dance (there’s just not a lot of space!) or perform a comedy act or any other light and breezy entertainment piece, please contact Kerry Gibson (kgibson; x2460) and let her know by Wednesday, December 3. A microphone will be provided. 

The event will conclude with a festive holiday sing-along.  

ALL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND AND TO PERFORM!

Thanks, and start tuning up for this warm event to kick off your winter break!

One of the most recent and ground breaking cases to deal with book censorhip is  Counts vs. Cedarville . In June 2002 a parent of a child in the Cedarville School District  objected to having Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the open library shelves. This parent then went on to request that all the Harry Potter books  be removed from the library shelves. This parent stated that these books promoted, " parents/teachers/rules are stupid, or something to be ignored, magic solves all your problems". She also said that she thought that " witch craft and sorcery does not need to be available for students to study". The library board voted 15-0 to deny the request however, the Cedarville School Board did not adhere to the library board's decision and voted 3 to 2 that ALL the Harry Potter  books should be removed from the shelves and held in the librarian's office not to be checked out without parental permission.  Fortunately two parents, Mary Nell Counts and Billy Ray Counts, sued the school district on behalf of their daughter Dakota. The court agreed with the Counts stating that the schol board made the decision because they did not agree with the message of  Harry Potter  and that the plantiff's first ammendment rights had been severely violated. The books were returned to the shelves where they can continue to promote witchcraft and sorcery and corrupt children for years to come ; )! The amazing element of this case is because of ONE parent hundreds of children were denied access to one of the best loved books of all time. How can we let this happen?

For more information on this case please go to  http://www.freeexpression.org/newswire/potter.pdf

Why are certain books considered controversial and who decides this? There are several movements of grass roots organizations that believe it is their job to police and determine what is suitable for not only their children when it comes to books but also, what every other child in the library reads too. One of these grass root organizations calls themselves Family Friendly Libraries. The FFL was founded in 1995 by Karen Jo Gounaud to combat what she believed was a “proliferation of internet pornography and age-inappropriate materials in local school and public libraries” (FFL). The FFL believes that parents should have the right to prevent their children from taking out certain books from certain collections; they also believe that parents should have access to their children’s library records and they believe with the regard to public school libraries that parents should have input on the books that are acquired by the library. They put a large emphasis on parental permission slips which they believe should be required for children to access certain collections in their library.

It may seem that Family Friendly Libraries has good intentions but censorship is a very slippery slope and it is important to look at who is the head of the grass root organizations and to be aware of any hidden agendas.  When a person delves deeper into the information that FFL presents they will discover that the FFL supports “Emphasis on Traditional Family -- That the most important and superior unit of civil society is the traditional family, i.e. a mother and father married to each other, committed to a lifetime monogamous relationship and to caring responsibly together for their children.” The FFL lets these beliefs color their view of how public and school libraries should be. The FFL disapproves of books with any reference to alternative lifestyles. What does this mean for single parent families, divorced parents, and same sex parents? Apparently the FFL believes that these groups of people have no say. How can we be the land of the free if we let groups like FFL dictate what makes and what does not make a library “Family Friendly”  and therefore not worthy of supporting?

There are a  number of reasons people cite when trying to ban or challenge a book.

The Forbidden Library is a website created by Janet Yanosko  Elkin who is a librarian at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and maintained by her until 2005. She created this site to track incidents of book challenges. She notes many outrageous but real examples that illustrate the subjectivity that can color people’s desire to challenge or ban books. Four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee wanted Ann Frank: Diary of a young girl removed because they believed it was a real “downer.” Martin Hanford’s Where’s Waldo was challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw Michigan for containing nudity. Apparently they were offended by a tiny picture of a women lying on her stomach without her bikini top.  A well known Dr. Seuss book The Lorax was challenged on the basis that it criminalized the foresting industry. Finally, the book My Friend Flicka was challenged because a character refers to a female dog as a bitch. One of the more outrageous challenges I found was an instance where  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was put in a locked reference shelf because it exsposed a " poor philsophy of life". I have included the link to Ms Yanosko Elkin's site here:

http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com/

 Anyone can find anything wrong with any book. Do we really want to be able to allow people to ban things because of something as silly as a " poor philosphy of life"?

This week is the 27th anniversary of "Banned Books Week," when people all over the country take time to celebrate their ability to read whatever they want, whenever they want. Unfortunately people are still trying to ban books. My name is Lindsay Sakmann, and I'm a senior at Ursinus College and an intern at Myrin Library. I would like to use this week to spotlight different cases of attempts to ban books or censorship.

The first person I am going to spotlight is Laura Mallory. Mallory is a Georgia mother who has taken it upon herself to try to remove the "Harry Potter" books from Georgia's school shelves. Mallory believes that "Harry Potter" promotes "witch craft" and even claims that " Harry Potter" is responsible for school shootings. The good news is that Mallory has not been successful. Her case was taken all the way to the Georgia supreme court where the court voted in favor of keeping the books on the shelves. It is fine for Ms. Mallory to think that "Harry Potter" is evil. However, my problem is that she thinks that her opinion needs to be force fed to everyone. If you click on this link you will be taken to an old YouTube clip of Mallory. Would really want someone as out of touch with reality as Mallory telling you what you can and can't read?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzVqO8enFXg

Diane Skorina, Reference & Instruction Librarian, and Jean Bennett, Multimedia Instructional Technologist, presented their paper "Freshmen Orientation...Online!: A Librarian and an Instructional Technologist Collaborate" at the ASCUE 2008 conference in Myrtle Beach on June 18th. The paper is available in the ERIC database and at the ASCUE website. They'll also be presenting together at the the Pennsylvania Library Association Conference in King of Prussia in November.

Check out the photos from this past Spring's Edible Books Festival. Student Georgia Julius won 1st place for her edible melange representing Lord of the "Pies."