Social Library, Banned Books Week Edition
Jennifer Peterson
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26 September 2017
This special Banned Books Week edition of our Social Library series highlights libraries who are raising awareness about the harms of censorship and the freedom to read. As we browsed through the libraries we follow on Facebook, we enjoyed the many photos of special book displays, unique programming, an entertaining video, and the multitude of ways for patrons to get caught reading banned books. Thank you to all these libraries for their great work and if you'd like to see your library featured in a Social Library edition, please let us know via [email protected] or find us on Facebook. Also, registration is now open for the Libraries and Social Media webinar series, hosted by WebJunction in collaboration with TechSoup for Libraries.
- We're so impressed by the many libraries posting photos of their Banned Books displays. Botetourt County Libraries in Virginia posted some of their displays, including the above shot of the front door of the Eagle Rock Library.
- The Salt Lake County Library in Utah shared a number of posts related to Banned Books Week. The fantastic Intellectual Freedom video (sung to the tune of the Elton John classic, Philadelphia Freedom) should win an award or two! On Sunday, they hosted the Read Out Loud event, both at the Smith branch and on Facebook Live, when everyone was invited to read from their favorite banned books, simultaneously, for approximately three minutes. They shared a new photo album, GET BOOKED during Banned Books Week 2017, with the readers in mugshots with their banned books. And we loved the photo, Banned Books-Behind Bars :-).
- The Goldendale Community Library in Washington shared the photo at right, with another collection of mugshots taken of staff and patrons getting caught reading. The post includes an invitation to "come celebrate the freedom to read, to catch yourself reading a banned book, and share it with us on Facebook!"
- Platteville Public Library in Wisconsin shared a photo of the library book club who have read and discussed Slaughterhouse-Five, which is frequently challenged for profanity. The post also mentions that the Book vs. Movie Club is tackling another banned cult classic: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
- Arlington VA Public Library is hosting a Banned Book Cards Scavenger Hunt in conjunction with Banned Books Week celebrations, and this past weekend the community came together for a Banned Books Week Picnic to listen to passages from banned books read by their favorite librarians.