In honor of Banned Books Week 2007, OIF has produced a new video featuring this year’s top ten challenged books. Enjoy!
If you want a high-resolution version for your own use, let us know at oif@ala.org. We’re happy to share!
Kent Oliver, chair of ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, wrote an article in honor Banned Books Week, which starts tomorrow. The piece has been posted at I Love Libraries. As Kent writes:
There are those who believe that our society is safer or otherwise better off when our access to information is limited. In fact, librarians know the opposite to be true: well-informed people are free people; education is a crucial component to success. Libraries providing a wide range of information across the breadth of public opinion provide everyone with the opportunity to become a well-informed, independent-minded citizen – the bedrock of our democratic society.
As a reminder, those of you in the Chicago area tomorrow are invited to help Kent, ALA president Loriene Roy, president elect Jim Rettig, and many challenged authors and local celebrities kick off the week at the Banned Books Week Read-Out! on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.
Those of you in other parts of the country can check out our online map to learn about events in your area. And don’t forget about our many events in Second Life throughout the week!
ALA President Loriene Roy issued a statement over the weekend criticizing the Standardized Chapel Library Project (SCLP):
We are outraged to learn that the Bureau of Prisons is removing religious texts from prison chapel libraries based solely on whether or not the books are on a short list of ‘approved’ religious books. A government agency should not have the right to determine what religious texts are “appropriate” when our Constitution promises not only freedom of speech, but also freedom of religion.
The New York Times reported on the details of the project in its September 9 story.
According to the Times, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) initiated the SCLP in response to concerns that prisons might become recruiting grounds for radical Islamic groups and other radical religious groups. Under the initiative, the BOP has ordered its chaplains to remove and dispose of any book in the chapel library that does not appear on a list of up to 150 approved texts for each of twenty categories of religious practice.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of books that have been used for years without concern have been removed from prison chapel libraries. Because no funds were allotted for new book purchases, many chapel libraries were emptied. According to inmates in an Otisville, NY prison, only a Koran and two prayer books remained on the Islam shelf after the chapel library was emptied of books not on the “approved” lists.
Two prisoners have filed a lawsuit challenging the policy: Milstein v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (Complaint)
In a followup story, the Times reports that the BOP intends to follow through with the project, despite calls to end the program from religious leaders, civil liberties groups, and prisoners’ rights groups from across the religious and political spectrum.
UPDATE: The Bureau of Prisons has apparently decided to halt the Standardized Chapel Library Project. Per the Bureau’s spokesperson:
“In response to concerns expressed by members of several religious communities, the Bureau of Prisons has decided to alter its planned course of action with respect to the Chapel Library Project.
“The bureau will begin immediately to return to chapel libraries materials that were removed in June 2007, with the exception of any publications that have been found to be inappropriate, such as material that could be radicalizing or incite violence. The review of all materials in chapel libraries will be completed by the end of January 2008.”
Undisclosed is how and when books are to be returned to the shelves, what books will be kept off the shelves, and what criteria will be used to make those decisions.
Lists of “Approved” Religious Books
The Times posted copies of the lists of “approved” books in each of the recognized religious categories. Obtained from an anonymous source within the prison system, the Times cautions that the lists may have been altered since they obtained them:
In honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day, the Office for Intellectual Freedom has allowed this year’s Banned Books Week pirate—Pirate Giver—the opportunity to introduce our new BWW Events Google Map:
Ahoy Mateys! Banned Books Week—celebrate yer freedom t’ read—is a mere two weeks away. T’ learn more about celebrations goin’ on in yer port o’ call, th’ Office fer Intellectual Freedom designed an interactive map at ALA’s new library advocacy site ilovelibraries. If ye don’t see yer event on th’ form, please let us know about it here.
Don’t ye forget t’ celebrate your freedom t’ read! Yarrrrr!
This year, OIF is working with the Alliance Library System, Alliance Second Life Library, TAP Information Services and the new ALA membership group Virtual Communities and Libraries to provide an interactive experience centered on Banned Books Week, September 29–October 6, 2007, on Second Life, Teen Second Life, MySpace, and Facebook. Our aims are to help librarians and others to feel comfortable in social networking spaces and to reach out to new audiences.
Update: We now also have a Banned Books Week group on Flickr to share photos from BBW events. See below for details.
To tie in with this year’s theme of “Aye, mateys…celebrate your freedom t’ read!,” ALA has created a “Pirate Paradise” in Second Life (SL), a 3D virtual world complete with pirate ship and a wharf with interactive displays on banned books. ALA Banned Books Week graphics will be used to create virtual posters, displays and T-shirts that can be worn by Second Life avatars. (See example at this end of this post!) The Topeka and Shawnee County (Kan.) Public Library has loaned a virtual display on banned books they created for their National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Big Read initiative. All ALA Second Life activities will take place on ALA Arts InfoIsland. (Note: link is to Second Life URL.)
On September 29 (following the Chicago Read-Out!), ALA will host a kickoff event in Second Life: a pirate’s party with the theme “Aye Mateys—Celebrate Your Freedom t’ Read!” Later in the week there will be fireworks displays, book discussions, and other intellectual freedom educational programs. Throughout the week, visitors will have access to a professional welcome center, a listening station for podcasts, and an interactive classroom on one of the most frequently challenged books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. An updated calendar of SL and real world BBW activities can be found at various SL kiosks and at www.ala.org/bbooks.
Second Life Programs scheduled to date are listed as follows (note: all times are in “SL” time, which corresponds to Pacific Daylight Time). Dates and times are subject to change:
For more information on Second Life events, contact Lori Bell at lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com or in Second Life as Lorelei Junot, or Tom Peters at tapinformation@yahoo.com or in Second Life as Maxito Ricardo.
Teen Second Life
On Teen Second Life, there will be an underwater pirate ship/banned books display on Eye4You Alliance during all of Banned Books Week. On October 5 from 4:00–8:00 p.m. (Second Life/Pacific Time), there will be a “Dress as Your Favorite Banned Book Character” party also on Eye4You Alliance.
For more information about Teen Second Life events, please contact Kelly Czarnecki at kczarnecki@plcmc.org or in Teen Second Life as Saryn Farnwood. The Eye4You Alliance island on Teen Second Life is sponsored by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
ALA has set up a Facebook group for librarians and the public who want to share ideas, experiences, events, and banned book recommendations. The name of the group is “Celebrate Your Freedom to Read! Banned Books Week 2007.” Beginning September 24, members of the “Celebrate Your Freedom to Read” Facebook group will receive a Banned Books “Challenging Fact of the Day.” All are welcome to join the group (search for Banned Books Week 2007).
ALA also has a MySpace page for Banned Books Week. The page features a blog about BBW activities, music, videos, photos from BBW events, and more.
ALA now has a Flickr group, on which anyone can share photos from Banned Books Week events in their area. If you’re on Flickr, just upload your BBW event photo, join the BBW 2007 group, and click on “Send to Group.”
Following up on our previous post about the Banned Books Week Read-Out, OIF has produced videos featuring three of our star attractions—Chris Crutcher, Robie Harris, and Carolyn Mackler—inviting the world to join us in Chicago on September 29. We’ve posted the video to YouTube here, along with the three separate videos they recorded in three different states (all available from user “OIFTube”). Take a look and share it with the world! (Note: if you have a blog and would like to post the video, please do so! We’d post it here, but our blog software isn’t quite there yet…)
For more information, please visit http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/oifprograms/bbwreadout/bbwreadout.htm
The Nebraska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee has started a blog to share information and spark discussion about committee activities and IF-related goings on. Check it out at http://nlaif.blogspot.com/.
The most recent post discusses a decision by Creighton University president Rev. John Schlegel to rescind an invitation to Anne Lamott to speak as part of the school’s Women and Health lecture series. Some public opposition had arisen to the lecture after Lamott’s pro-choice politics and participation in an assisted suicide a decade ago came to light. In the wake of the cancellation, a group of Omaha churches agreed to sponsor Lamott at a larger venue in the city.
According to an article in the Omaha World-Herald:
Schlegel said Creighton will continue to allow the voicing of controversial opinions, including those inconsistent with Catholic teaching, on campus but will emphasize formats that allow for more balance and debate than does a sponsored lecture.
Creighton will form a task force to consider its speaker policies, said Patrick Borchers, the university’s vice president of academic affairs. The Jesuit university also will hold a series of lectures and panel discussions on academic freedom at a Catholic institution.
The NLA blog also has information on some upcoming Banned Books Week activities in the Cornhusker State.
Let us know about other blogs that discuss intellectual freedom – email us at oif@ala.org.
For the 26th celebration of Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum and the Newberry Library are sponsoring a Banned Books Week Read-Out!, which will be held Saturday, September 29, 2007 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., at Pioneer Plaza (located at Michigan Ave. and the Chicago River). Admission is FREE and given its location—off Michigan Ave—we expect hundreds, if not thousands of people will be in attendance.
As a way to promote the event locally, we created a Chicago Transit Authority ad that can be found on the Red and Blue line trains. If you are in Chicago and ride the Red or Blue line, keep an eye out for it!
The ad already has been mentioned on a major national blog!
Also, if you would like to help promote the event on your Web site and/or blog, please feel free to do so. You may use a banner version of the ad, a button or the original at http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/bbw/ctaad.pdf. Please link back to http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/oifprograms/bbwreadout/bbwreadout.htm.
