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altivoI haven't posted much this month because I've been busy. Not at the computer. What a concept, huh?
Today I was largely engaged in creating a display for the library on the subject of censorship and banned books, since this is "Banned Books Week" or, as I prefer to call it, "Freedom to Read Week." My director doesn't usually make much observance because she thinks doing so might encourage people to challenge more books, but I convinced her that it was equally important to let the reasonable majority know about book challenges and how absurd they can become.
Consequently I found myself looking up the American Library Association's current list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books and checking to see how many we had available to display. A few were checked out to readers at the moment (such as Lois Lowry's award-winning book The Giver which is number 14 on the list) and there were several that we just don't own (though I'm assured that in some of those cases we did once have them and they somehow "disappeared".)
Some discussion with others inspired me to post these remarks. Those who live outside North America often have very peculiar ideas about American culture (and sometimes, rightly so) engendered by such things as attempts to censor popular books while movies and television remain replete with violence and obscene language. The answer is that books have more and more become the target of choice because they are the easiest target. A huge majority of US residents watch lots of television and movies, while those who read for pleasure make up a now steadily shrinking minority (according to this report on an on-going study by the Census Bureau and the NEA.) The large vocal groups who demand censorship of books are generally made up of non-readers who readily admit that they have not read the book they attack, but they "heard on good authority" that it contains something offensive to them. These folks are already suspicious of books and reading to begin with, and it is easy to incite them to form a mob.
So anyway, I spent the afternoon tastefully arranging Maya Angelou's autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (number 3 on the list) and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (number 5) alongside Rowling's Harry Potter books (number 7) and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (number 6). Michael Willhoite's gentle book Daddy's Roommate is still number 2 in challenge attempts (we no longer have a copy, it "disappeared") and I'm sure none of you can guess (unless you already looked it up) what the grand champion, most-challenged book in the US is. Alvin Schwartz' collections of Scary Stories... and More Scary Stories... are number one. And the complaint against them? Apparently, they are "too scary."
Anyway, in other news: That tractor we bought back in August finally got returned for a refund. The dealer's support was non-existent, the manufacturer's responsiveness was even worse. Calling to complain for the fifth time or so, we accidentally got to talk to the store manager, and he agreed to refund the whole price, including the delivery charge.
Summer is officially over, though we are still having warm sunny days. I eagerly await the fall color display, though it may have been too dry. Oaks are dropping leaves already.
I was off work last week, and got a few things done, including a long overdue cleaning of my home office, so I can have some room to work on writing and art again. And that's the news from Fuzzy Bear Farm, where the horses are stubborn and the sheep are noisy.
Today I was largely engaged in creating a display for the library on the subject of censorship and banned books, since this is "Banned Books Week" or, as I prefer to call it, "Freedom to Read Week." My director doesn't usually make much observance because she thinks doing so might encourage people to challenge more books, but I convinced her that it was equally important to let the reasonable majority know about book challenges and how absurd they can become.
Consequently I found myself looking up the American Library Association's current list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books and checking to see how many we had available to display. A few were checked out to readers at the moment (such as Lois Lowry's award-winning book The Giver which is number 14 on the list) and there were several that we just don't own (though I'm assured that in some of those cases we did once have them and they somehow "disappeared".)
Some discussion with others inspired me to post these remarks. Those who live outside North America often have very peculiar ideas about American culture (and sometimes, rightly so) engendered by such things as attempts to censor popular books while movies and television remain replete with violence and obscene language. The answer is that books have more and more become the target of choice because they are the easiest target. A huge majority of US residents watch lots of television and movies, while those who read for pleasure make up a now steadily shrinking minority (according to this report on an on-going study by the Census Bureau and the NEA.) The large vocal groups who demand censorship of books are generally made up of non-readers who readily admit that they have not read the book they attack, but they "heard on good authority" that it contains something offensive to them. These folks are already suspicious of books and reading to begin with, and it is easy to incite them to form a mob.
So anyway, I spent the afternoon tastefully arranging Maya Angelou's autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (number 3 on the list) and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (number 5) alongside Rowling's Harry Potter books (number 7) and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (number 6). Michael Willhoite's gentle book Daddy's Roommate is still number 2 in challenge attempts (we no longer have a copy, it "disappeared") and I'm sure none of you can guess (unless you already looked it up) what the grand champion, most-challenged book in the US is. Alvin Schwartz' collections of Scary Stories... and More Scary Stories... are number one. And the complaint against them? Apparently, they are "too scary."
Anyway, in other news: That tractor we bought back in August finally got returned for a refund. The dealer's support was non-existent, the manufacturer's responsiveness was even worse. Calling to complain for the fifth time or so, we accidentally got to talk to the store manager, and he agreed to refund the whole price, including the delivery charge.
Summer is officially over, though we are still having warm sunny days. I eagerly await the fall color display, though it may have been too dry. Oaks are dropping leaves already.
I was off work last week, and got a few things done, including a long overdue cleaning of my home office, so I can have some room to work on writing and art again. And that's the news from Fuzzy Bear Farm, where the horses are stubborn and the sheep are noisy.
