Tag Archives: Banned Books Week

#BookFaceFriday “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” by Emily M. Danforth

This #BookFace is outstanding in its field!

Freed between the lines! That’s the theme of this year’s #BannedBooksWeek. We are celebrating with a banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post: A Novel” by Emily M. Danforth (Balzer + Bray, 2013) has been banned or challenged in the US since 2014, less than a year after it’s publication, cited for “inappropriate language, not appropriate for middle school age students.” It won The Montana Book Award and was a finalist for both the Morris Award and a Lambda Literary award. Emily Danforth was born in Montana and received her Ph.D in English-Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln! A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Looking For Alaska by John Green, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few.  This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.

“This finely crafted, sophisticated coming-of-age debut novel is multilayered, finessing such issues as loss, first love, and friendship. An excellent read for both teens and adults.”

— School Library Journal (starred review)

You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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#BookFaceFriday “The Giver” by Lois Lowry

We’re united in our love for this #BookFaceFriday!

Let Freedom Read! That’s the theme of this year’s #BannedBooksWeek. We are celebrating with a banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “The Giver” by Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin, 1993) has been banned or challenged in the US since 1994, less than a year after it’s publication, cited for “violent and sexual passages, infanticide and euthanasia.” The Giver received the 1994 Newbery Medal, given for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. It’s available as a book club kit, or as an eBook and Audiobook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like Looking For Alaska by John Green, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few.  This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.

“Lois Lowry has written a fascinating, thoughtful science-fiction novel. The story is skillfully written; the air of disquiet is delicately insinuated. And the theme of balancing the virtues of freedom and security is beautifully presented.”

— Horn Book (starred review)

You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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#BookFaceFriday “New Kid” by Jerry Craft

We’re united in our love for this #BookFaceFriday!

Books unite us. Censorship divides us. That’s the theme of this year’s #BannedBooksWeek. We are celebrating with banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “New Kid” by Jerry Craft (Quill Tree Books, 2019) has been banned or challenged in the US, cited for “Critical Race Theory and Marxism.” New Kid is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Reader’s Literature. It’s available as a book club kit, or as an eBook and Audiobook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few.  This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.

“This is more than a story about being the new kid—it’s a complex examination of the micro- and macroaggressions that Jordan endures from classmates and teachers. Highly recommended for all middle grade shelves.”

— School Library Journal (starred review)

You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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#BookFaceFriday “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This week’s #BookFaceFriday is off-limits!

We are celebrating Banned Books Week with a very dapper banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Washington Square Press, 2021) has been banned or challenged for decades, cited for “coarse language” and “sexual content,”  it’s available as a book club kit, or as an eBook and Audiobook on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few.  This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.

You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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#BookFaceFriday – “Lessons in Censorship” by Catherine J. Ross

This week’s #BookFaceFriday won’t be silenced!

At the Nebraska Library Commission we love Banned Books Week and the spotlight it puts on censorship. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to read. We love the idea that there are no forbidden books! An especially pertinent title in our Library Science collection is “Lessons in Censorship: How Schools and Courts Subvert Students’ First Amendment Rights” by Catherine J. Ross (Harvard University Press; Illustrated Edition, 2015.) Our Library Science Collection provides professional and reference materials for Nebraska librarians and library science programs. This includes all librarians and library science students. The checkout period is 4 weeks, and items can be sent through the mail or picked up in person.

“An extraordinary book. Ross offers the best account I have read about why we have free speech and why we value it so much―insightful and accessible. Beyond explaining what students can say, and how they can say it, and how limits have developed over the last ninety years, Lessons in Censorship powerfully argues that speech rights in public school are essential to the health of democratic governance―every concerned citizen must read this book.”Gene Policinski, author of the weekly column Inside the First Amendment

This week’s #BookFace model is Hollin Attendola, one of our Talking Book & Braille Service Library Readers Advisors.

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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Continuing Education for Banned Books

More free webinars! This week is all about exploring issues and themes of Banned Books Week 2019.

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

  • Sept. 23: “Three Ways Librarians Can Combat Censorship” – SAGE Publishing, Index on Censorship magazine, & OIF
    • “During the webinar, librarians will share their experiences and tips with navigating censorship. The webinar will also highlight how contested books can engage readers in constructive conversations.”
  • Sept. 24: “Ask Me Anything About Censorship” – ALA OIF
    • “OIF Assistant Director Kristin Pekoll will briefly explore banned book and censorship history, along with ways readers can stay alert about censorship. Attendees are invited to ask questions during the second half of the discussion.”
  • Sept. 25: “Banned Books 101” – ALA OIF
    • “With a suggested audience of students grades 6-12 and young adults, the webinar will review recent challenges to titles, the ways a book can be censored, and stories of students who stood up for the freedom to read.”

Image Comics + ALA Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table + ALA Intellectual Freedom Round Table

“Each Library Livestream will be a freewheeling discussion on creativity, freedom of expression, the (sometimes recent) history of banned and challenged comics, and how access to information is a fundamental right library patrons can expect librarians to defend across the world.”

  • Sept. 23: “Historical Voices
    • “Andre R. Frattino (SIMON SAYS) and Sanford Green (BITTER ROOT) in conversation with Dr. Katie Monnin (Author of 8 books on teaching graphic novels, Why so serious? Productions Founder) about banned voices throughout history. Topics covered will also include the use of censorship as a mode of suppression, the erasure of dissenting voices from the historical narrative of our nation and others, and the legacy of those erasures as they affect current events. “
  • Sept. 24: “Banned People & Post-Colonial Narratives
    • “Sloane Leong (PRISM STALKER) and Henry Barajas (VOZ DE M.A.Y.O. TATA RAMBO) in conversation with Alea Perez (GNCRT President-Elect) about banned people, the legacy of colonialism in literature and popular culture, and the rise of post-colonial voices as a challenge to systems which under-represent/under-acquire authors/artists of color.”
  • Sept. 25: “Banned Books & Civil Rights
    • “Ronald Wimberly (BLACK HISTORY IN ITS OWN WORDS) and Nate Powell (MARCH) in conversation with Scott Bonner (IFRT, Ferguson Municipal Public Library Director) about banned and challenged books, the role of censorship in civil rights movements, and how their work in comics has addressed legacies of erasure.”
  • Sept. 26: “LGBTQ Challenges
    • “Michelle Perez (THE PERVERT) and Grace Ellis (MOONSTRUCK) in conversation with Monica Barette (GNCRT Board, Principal Librarian at Chula Vista Library) about the disproportionately high incidence of bans and challenges levied against LGBTQ+ books, especially (but not limited to) those titles aimed at younger readers, in libraries and schools. This discussion will also touch on the recent increase in challenges and cancellations of Drag Storytimes in libraries across the nation.”
  • Sept. 27: “Access Issues – Privatization & Gatekeeping
    • “David F. Walker (BITTER ROOT) in conversation with Ray James (IFRT Coalition Building Committee) about how privatization impacts access, particularly as it relates to prison libraries, as (most) US prisons are privatized and how this impacts inmate access to information. This discussion will also touch on how gatekeeping and biases (of librarians, prison staff, the public) affect access for this vulnerable population.”

If you would like to earn continuing education (CE) credit and are enrolled in the Nebraska Public Librarian Certification program, please submit a “CE Activity Report Form” after each webinar.

If you have any continuing education questions, please contact Holli Duggan.

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#BookFaceFriday “Fahrenheit 451”

This #BookFaceFriday is burning down the house!

This week’s #BookFace was an easy choice because it’s #BannedBooksWeek, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury (Random House, 1953), set in a future where printed books are banned and actively destroyed, it’s become a hallmark for Banned Books Week. Ironically, it’s also been banned and challenged itself, as recently as 2006. This classic novel is a part of our NLC Book Club Kit collection, reserve it for your book club to read and discuss today!

“Brilliant . . . Startling and ingenious . . . Mr. Bradbury’s account of this insane world, which bears many alarming resemblances to our own, is fascinating.” —Orville Prescott, The New York Times

This week’s #BookFaceFriday model is Gabe Kramer, our Talking Book & Braille Service Audio Production Studio Manager!

Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

 

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