Monday, September 22, 2008

Banned Book Read-In

The 1st Annual Read-In will be held in the library's Beyond Words Gallery on September 30th from 3pm-6pm. This event takes place in conjunction with the American Libraries Association’s Banned Books Week, September 27th – October 4th. Please join the Library Staff, Faculty and students as they read freely from their favorite works. Join the dialogue as readers discuss the historical and societal contexts of banned and challenged books. Some of the works to be read include: Lolita, The Chocolate Wars and The Awakening. All of these banned books, plus many others, can be found in the Marygrove College Library collection.

Many questions regarding banned and challenged works abound: Why do people ban books? Why do so many classical works remain banned and/or challenged today? How can understanding weaken the argument to control and censor readership at any level? What can I do to help?

To view the American Libraries Association’s banned book list, please visit: ALA Banned Books or the Parents against Bad Books in Schools List of Lists. The PABBIS website focuses primarily on books found in K-12 schools – over 1,350 books to date!

Please join us at the Marygrove College Library 1st Annual Read-In to listen, learn and discuss. Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Text a Librarian

In addition to being available by phone, email, and instant message, you can now also contact the reference librarian on duty by text message through your mobile phone. You can send a text whenever a librarian is on duty to 265010. Start your message with "marygrovelibrary:" (without the quotes), and then type your question. Keep in mind that your question is limited to 160 characters. See the Reference Services web page for more information on contacting a librarian.