How to Ban/Challenge a Book

We all know that Cassy and I are big fans of supporting Banned Books Week, because it is wrong to impose your own views on others by taking away their ability to read a certain book that you disagree with. And we also know that Cassy has kept you on top of which books are the most banned/challenged each year. But how do books wind up on that list? I'm here to tell you how.

Fun fact: The ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee is just as old as Cassy and I (it was formed, like us, in 1986). They do a lot of important things, but the relevant one for this post is working with the Office of Intellectual Freedom (established in 1967) on issues related to censorship.

The OIF collects two types of reports on banned/challenged books. They keep an eye on media to see what gets reported in the news. They also accept reports from individuals: librarians, teachers, students, anyone who knows about a book that has been banned or challenged and wants to make sure the ALA knows about it. If you are someone who wants to make such a report, the form is here.

The OIF also offers support for the people defending such a challenge (usually librarians and teachers). On that page, you can find information and guidelines for dealing with authorities, the public, and the initiator of a challenge, among other useful tips.

So that's really all it takes... someone complains about a book being on a shelf or in a classroom, the institution being complained to makes a decision, and someone hopefully reports the challenge (or, worst case scenario, the ban) to the ALA to make sure it gets counted for the year. But don't feel too bad... the books that get challenged usually grow in popularity, especially around the end of September...

Celebrities Who Love Reading

You may have seen those READ posters in the library, or maybe not. But the ALA (American Library Association) has a huge selection of READ posters featuring celebrities, art, quotes, and other themes. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the celebrities who have lent their visages to these posters.

You'll find that a lot of actors from movies based on popular books
do these posters to promote the book(s) as well as the film(s)
and the cast of Harry Potter is no exception.

I very badly wanted to own the Orlando Bloom LotR READ poster
when those films were being released. Let's face it... I still kind want this poster.

Musicians get in on the fun, too:

Britney Spears, LL Cool J, and Yo Yo Ma, pictured.

I think some of my favorites are the "cool guy" posters.

It's like they're saying, "Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Hugh Jackman,

and Colin Farrell make the ladies swoon. They also read.

Coincidence? I think not. READ."

Sports celebrities join the action as well. (Though I'm sad to say,

I didn't see any sports celebrities in the currently available

collection from ALA.) Here we have the mascot at DePaul, Yao Ming, and Drew Brees.

And of course, you have to appeal to the nerdy kids already in the library (don't be offended, I'm referring to myself too): Bill Gates, Nathan Fillion, and Yoda have all graced official ALA READ posters.

What celebrity would you most want to see on a READ poster? (Chances are pretty good they're already on one.) (Note: Not every poster featured in this post is an official ALA Read poster; some of them were inspired by the recognizable format, and I feel like that counts for something.)

Librarians Fighting Plagiarism with Citations

You may not know this about me, but I am vehemently opposed to plagiarism. I would call it one of my pet peeves, but it's so much stronger than that. I know that, as a librarian, I am all about freedom of information, but that's not the same thing as plagiarism. You should have access to all the information you could possibly want and then some, but if you want to use that information for something, you need to cite it, and properly. That's where we come in.

These are the three most common citation styles I run across at our school. If you've ever written a research paper, I hope you've seen at least one of these: Chicago, APA, or MLA. Chicago is typically used in history classes, APA is for psychology/sociology/social work classes, and MLA is mostly for English and other language classes, but tends to be the default for most other subjects, because students learn it in English class alongside learning how to write a research paper properly, so it makes a good go-to. Many teachers don't care which style you use, as long as you use one correctly and consistently.

So what is this citing stuff? Cassy talked about this on Tuesday... if you refer to someone else's work within your own work, you have to give them credit. What these citation guides do is show you how to do that. If you're writing in MLA style, you have to cite in MLA style, or it's considered incorrect and technically, you're plagiarizing.

You would not believe the kinds of things students will do to try to avoid citing. I've seen them buy papers off the internet (the one I have in mind wasn't even on the right topic, and actually had very poorly written citations). They try to get librarians - or the Writing Center - to write their citations for them. Sometimes they'll struggle with the citation builder in Word for hours instead of just letting me show them how to format their own citations.

Here's my favorite hint to give students who are having a hard time with citations. If you use library resources like the books and the articles from our databases, they are so much easier to cite than websites! The citation guides have tried so hard to come up with a format that works for every website, but the fact of the matter is, websites don't have a set format. They don't all include all of the necessary information, and even if they do, it's not always in the same spot. Databases and the catalog, however, include all the information you need to cite properly, and it's in a standardized format. If you stick with those resources, it won't take you more than 15 minutes to type up your citations (unless you type really, really slowly). (Not to mention, using library-vetted resources means you spend WAY less time on having to evaluate the validity of your resources... we've already done it for you. But maybe I'll talk about resource evaluation another day here...)

So please... let your librarians help you. We know where to find all the citation guides, online or in print. We have lots of practice, and some of us - like me - actually really like doing citations!

Librarians and Banned/Challenged Books

The ALA (American Library Association) does not ban books. In fact, it kind of does the opposite. It keeps track of bans and challenges from around the country and makes that information available to anyone, and it does what it can to support librarians who choose to keep challenged books on their shelves. It even sponsors Banned Books Week, a celebration of reading (not banning) banned/challenged books.

What's the difference between banned and challenged? Basically, banning is when a challenge is successful. When someone complains about a book and wants it banned, that's a challenge; when the school or library that has been complained to removes the book, that's a ban. Sometimes they go even further; there have been instances of book bans in schools that not only remove a certain book from a reading list and/or the library, but won't allow students to carry or read that book on school grounds. But we aren't really talking about governmental bans, because I'm discussing the ALA, which deals only with the USA, where we do not ban books at the governmental level. (That's sort of a big part of why we have the First Amendment.)

So who does challenge books? Parents of school-age children, mostly. A parent will notice a particular book in their child's possession, and that parent will take offense to it. Maybe someone told them terrible things about it; maybe they read a few pages out of context and found something offensive; or maybe it's a book that disagrees with their religious or political beliefs. They complain to the school or library that made the book available to their child, and demand that it be removed from the shelves or the reading list.

The thing is, parents who make challenges like this are trying to apply their opinions of what is right for their child to all the children in their child's school or community. That's one of those things we use the First Amendment to stop. You shouldn't take away everyone's access to something just because one person finds it offensive or inappropriate.

It gets trickier with reading lists for classes, because that's like telling a kid "you have to read this book." If a parent is opposed to a book on a reading list, that parent's child is usually offered an alternative book to read, or a transfer to another class that doesn't require that book. That way, the child can still learn the basic skills being addressed by reading the book (usually critical reading, vocabulary, history, literary devices, etc.) and the school isn't contradicting the parents' wishes or taking the selected book away from other students whose parents are completely fine with it.

But lots of schools - I mean, a ridiculous number - will remove a book from the school's library because one parent is offended by it. A lot of these challenges happen with middle schools, and it has a lot to do with parents who have difficulty accepting that their children are growing up and learning to think critically, form their own opinions, and explore topics that most parents don't want to think about their kids exploring (sex, violence, drugs, etc.)


The top three reasons for challenging books, according to the ALA, are:

"Sexually explicit" material

"Offensive language"

Materials that are "unsuited to any age group"

Do you really think a lot of adults are going to challenge books intended for adults based on naughty words and nudity? In that context, what does "unsuited to any age group" even mean? Nothing, really. That's the category for "this book isn't okay for a child of X age to read!" It's extremely rare to find a challenge intended to keep a certain book away from adults.

(The only solid example of book-banning attempts meant to keep a certain book away from adults that comes to mind is The Anarchist Cookbook, which has step-by-step instructions for all manner of explosives and other nefarious devices. If you've never seen it in your local library, keep in mind: there's a big difference between librarians choosing not to purchase a book and librarians banning a book from their shelves. And based on what I know about the book, it is not only controversial and dangerous, but extremely poorly written, which means it has little literary value. It was also published in 1971, so a lot of the information is outdated. These are always good reasons to not purchase a book for collection development.)


And librarians - as a general rule - aren't okay with banning books. They welcome the right to challenge books, because it's another form taken by the First Amendment (we have the right to stock the book, and you have the right to complain about it). But removing books from a public or academic library* is not nearly as easy as getting one removed from a school library*. That's because public/academic libraries serve a MUCH larger group than a 30-student class, and everyone else in that group has a right to have access to whatever books you find offensive.

*Academic libraries are college/university libraries; school libraries are K-12.

After all, as Jo Godwin said:

Book Smell

This week, we're reading the book Perfume: Story of a Murderer.  The book strongly focuses on the sense of smell.  Our main character has an over-developed sense of smell, to the point that he can smell things miles away.

Today I'm going to talk to you about book smells.  I don't know about you, dear reader, but I LOVE the smell of books.  In fact, one time when I was in class, I was sniffing the pages of my book and my professor saw me, stopped right in the middle of the lecture and asked, "are you sniffing the book?"

Indeed I was, because books smell wonderful.  Here is my favorite type of book smell:

New Book Smell

I love new book smell.  There's something about the pages being crisp and thick and it smells incredibly like paper.  I don't know what causes it, but it's magical.  I like to stick my nose deep in the pages of the book and take a deep sniff of it.  It may sound weird, but try it sometimes.  I think you'll be surprised on how pleasant it is.

Glossy Pages

Have you ever picked up a magazine and had the glossy page smell drift towards you?  Whether new or old, glossy pages have a very distinct smell, separate from those that don't hold a gloss.  Magazines frequently have this smell, so if you've never had the priviledge, pick one up and give it a sniff the next time you're in the supermarket.

Old Books Smell

There is something so unique about old book smell.  It's musty and, well, old.  It gives off a distinct smell that most people recognize in an instant.  It's the smell of bookstores and libraries.  So, what exactly causes this smell of age?  Well, I just happen to have a handy video for that...

If you're really jonesing for a book fix, and by some mystery you can't find one, or maybe you just want to smell like book because, really, let's face it, it's the most attractive smell in the world, there's something out there just for you.

Yes, my friends, there is book perfume out there.  It's about $100 a bottle, so you're definitely going to be shelling out for this particular scent.  But really, who wouldn't want to be constantly reminded of books?

The Best Book Sites

If you haven't noticed already, Alex and I are pretty crazy about books.  Besides our own super awesome site that you should visit on a daily basis, I'm going to tell you about some super awesome book related sites that you might also like (but that are clearly not nearly as cool as ours is. ;))

Bookshelf porn

I found this site a few months ago and it's exactly what it says it is: eye candy for the book lover.  It has unique, fun and just awe-inspiring bookshelves.  It shows bookshelf furniture, bookshelves in library, and even has a few other links and videos interjected about books along the way.  It's a great site for when you want to drool over books, or just plan your future library.

Goodreads

Goodreads is probably one of the best sites to track and interact.  You can look up every one of your books, keep track of not only what you've read, but what you want to read and where you are in your book.  Your friends can see what you're reading and they can comment.  You can review things, and even enter to win books.  It's a great site with a huge base.

Underground NYC Library

On this site, a few photographers wander around NYC subways and take pictures of people reading books.  It's a fascinating looking into people and their tastes.  Not to mention, demolishing your preconceived ideas of people.  It has everything from dad's reading parenting books to middle school girls reading Pride & Prejudice.  It's fun and inspiring and definitely worth checking out.

Some other sites that I haven't followed, but come on good authority:

Bookshelf Porn actually made it onto the NYTimes best bloggers of 2012 list.  So I decided to take a peek and here are two blogs I found that are right up our alley.

The Beat

Alex is very graphic novel happy, and I know a few of you are really into it, so this could be a really great blog for you.  They cover everything from DC to Marvel to online comics.  They get into the comic culture and update you on other news in the biz.

Omnivoracious

While we would never advocate leaving us for another review blog, Omnivoracious offers an insight that a lot of other sites don't.  Run by the editors at Amazon.com, the cover everything from interviews, to the best books and even do things like review cookbooks.  Best of all, they encourage critique through comments, really letting their readers have a voice.

Bonus (slightly) book-related site:

Common Errors in English Usage

This is a site I came across a number of years ago and, while not specifically book related, entirely useful.  It's a HUGE compilation of the most common errors people make in the written English language.  It's categorized by letter, so it makes what you're looking for incredibly easy to find.  Having trouble with affect/effect?  It covers that.  Constantly make a lot one word?  Covers that too.  It even covers common sayings that people say or use incorrectly (such as mute/moot point.)  Bookmark this site because, I promise, you'll use it more than you ever thought.

Those are just a few of the sites we love here at ReviewMeTwice.  Most of all, we just love books.  Have a book blog or a site that you visit all the time?  Just drop us a comment!  We always love looking at things that have to do with books.

eBook VS Real Book

 VS.  

It is the age old battle of digital vs. physical, eBook vs. real book, New age vs. Old age.  Today, Alex and I are going to be discussing benefits and drawbacks of both eReaders and physical books.  And while there will be hard core facts about both, this will mostly be our opinions.

First and foremost, you should know that Alex and I both own an eReader (Kindles for both of us.)  When we talk about eReaders, we're mostly going to be referring to those because that's the eReader we have experience with, but at the end of the day, there's not a huge difference between you're basic eReaders.  Storage wise, performance wise, visually, they all really do the same thing for you if you're looking for your basic, black and white, no nonsense eReader.  When choosing an eReader, my suggestion to you is to pick it from the company you trust/use the most.  If you use Amazon a lot, earn a lot of credit there, buy a Kindle.  They're great, great customer service and they back they're products up very well.

However, if you frequent Barnes and Noble a lot, you have a B&N card, you get credit/discounts there, then by all means, go with the Nook.  I'm not going to sit here and tell you Kindle is OH SO BETTER, because it's not and honestly, the prices are pretty comparable. I would actually probably have a Nook if I had been buying myself an eReader, but I received my Kindle as a Christmas present, and I love it, so I didn't bother switching. The only big difference is, the original Nook and standard Kindle have B&W screens that are much better for your eyes, while Kindle Fire, Nook Color and iPad are all back lit and can be very hard on your eyes, not to mention difficult to read in the sun. 

However, I'm here to tell you things about eReaders.  Good things:  

1. They're very light these days.  You can stick them in any purse or bag or whatever and weigh MUCH less than a book.  
2. What's more, they hold literally HUNDREDS of books.  You can borrow eBooks from your library and you can usually do it from your eReader.  
3. Read all the books on your eReader?  Who cares?  Pop online, buy a book, read it.  What's more, there are hundreds of books that are free and thousands more under $10. You can also download eBooks from most libraries for most eReaders. Different libraries use different eBook providers, and the details vary, but most of them are compatible with iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and Droid tablets. 
4. You can read the eReader on the beach, in the sun and now, with the new Kindles with the lights built right into the eReaders, you can read in the dark with the screen that is easy on your eyes.

Cons?  

1. Well, if you're not careful about your battery, you can take out the eReader one day and the battery is dead and you have nothing to read on that long train ride.  That will never be a problem with a book.  
2. If you leave an eReader on a train, you're out $150.  If you lose a book, you're out $7 for a paperback, $20 for a hardback.  
3. eReaders become outdated technology, eventually.  Every few years we have new Kindles and new Nooks.  The worst with a book is waiting for the paperback to come out so you don't have to spend $20.  
4. And you don't get that book feel.  I get it.  There's nothing like feeling a book in your hand.  And the smell. Mmm, book smell. I LOVE BOOK SMELL. Did you know they've bottled it?  I did, actually, but I didn't have $100 to spend on it.  If someone wants to buy me eau de book for my wedding, I will not protest.
5. Also, eReaders are a contributing factor to why our libraries are going out of business. Alex the librarian respectfully disagrees. We provide eBooks too (like I mentioned before) and they're usually a lot cheaper for us to get. They also don't require maintenance (as in rebinding or shelving or things like that... we do have to make sure the databases work, but that's about it). About half the librarians I know have eReaders, and we love them. A lot of libraries actually lend out eReaders, sometimes pre-loaded with content. I could go on, but I think you all get the point.  Ok, well, I'm wrong.  But still, if we eliminate the print book for the eReader, where does that leave libraries?  I'm not saying they're THE reason, I'm just saying, they're probably not helping.  But, clearly, Alex is probably more knowledgeable than I on the subject.

So that brings us to book, the paper, physical, real life thing book.  Pros: 

1. Books are physical things.  You buy a book and it's yours and you never have to worry about it.  You paid $7 for that physical book and it's substantial, unlike an eBook which... is not.  And we all - well, some of us - remember when Amazon had their little freakout over 1984 and everyone who had downloaded it lost it suddenly one day.
2. There's just something about holding a book in your hand: the feel, the smell, the ability to turn the pages.  And we don't recommend spraying your eReaders with this stuff.
3. Buying books also gives you a library of your own (not to mention supports libraries themselves.)  There's just something about being able to walk into a room and seeing books line the shelves, books that have been your friends.

Cons:

1.  Books are heavy.  Whether you're toting a book from place to place or you're moving them from one house to another, they weigh a lot.  How many times have you gotten rid of books just because you didn't want to have to pack them up?  This is actually one of the reasons I'm such a big fan of the shift to eBooks for textbooks. No student wants to carry around half a ton of textbooks every day.
2. Books also go through wear and tear.  You read a book a lot and it starts to fall apart, show its age until, finally, it has to be replaced.  One day, you will have to shell out another $7.  Same thing if it gets lost, stolen or borrow forever by a friend.  You're now buying that book you already bought (I have a book I've bought no less than three times because I've lost it through lending and moving.)  
3. When you travel, you have to bring multiple books.  I know that I can blow through a book pretty quickly, so I have to bring no less than three books with me.  That's three books taking up precious suitcase space.

I actually like both.  Will an eBook ever replace the real thing for me?  No, never in a million years.  I still frequent my library, have books of my own and, when I'm at home, always have a physical book in my hand.  However, my eReader is great for work.  It's great for when I'm traveling or, if I'm early for something, I can just pull it out of my purse and read a book. And if you have one of the newer eReaders like the Kindle Fire (I have the older version with a keyboard at the bottom) you can do other things, like play Angry Birds or check your email, since they're really just tablets with the capacity for storing a bunch of books.  Alex, this is a book blog.  We're supposed to be encouraging reading. If I'm caught somewhere unexpectedly, I have a book on me and I don't need to add tons of weight to my purse to have a book.

Non-Fiction in the Library

Not all non-fiction is as sit-down-and-read-able as a biography or The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks but if you're interested in finding some non-fiction that appeals to you, I have a brief guide to non-fiction in libraries for you.

Now, without going into great detail about classification systems (I'll bore you with that another day when Cassy isn't looking), I need to point out that books (and other materials) are shelved differently depending on what type of library you're in. Public libraries usually use the Dewey Decimal System, and academic/college/university libraries usually use the Library of Congress system.

I've come up with some quick guides (one for each of those classification systems) for the non-fiction categorization, for anyone looking to browse the shelves for something that interests them. I put them after the jump in the interest of not taking up the entire page with them, because they are fairly long, even with all the generalizations and omissions.