While cooking a tasty batch of Red Greek Lentils from the Rebar cookbook, I heard Jian Ghomeshi interview Judy Blume on CBC’s Q (16:08-:30:08). I can’t believe that she’s 70 years old now. The introduction was lovely: Name a book that was important to you as a kid. A novel that helped you negotiate the…
I was surprised to hear that BC Premier Gordon Campbell named Mary Polak to his cabinet as the Minister of Healthy Living and Sport. Whenever I hear her name I remember that she was the the Surrey School Board Chair who supported banning three kids picture books that had representations of gay and lesbian parents: …
CLA Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom released the results (7 page Word document) from their survey of challenges in Canadian libraries today. Items challenged ranged from Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby to The Golden Compass; books, graphic novels and film; and internet filtering. Almost all of the challenges resulted in the item being kept…
King and King was challenged in the public library in Allentown, PA. King and King is a kids picture book about a prince who rejects a bevy of babes to chose Lee as the one he wants to marry. The library director’s comments are spot on and to the point: Kathee Rhode, the library’s director,…
Concerns that the books are “anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion”. Read more at the CBC (1, 2, 3). Make your own card catalog cards at John Blyberg’s site.
BC writer Nikki Tate’s book Trouble on Tarragon Island was banned by the school librarian at Elizabeth Elementary in Kindersley, SK. The Globe and Mail has run two articles on this (Nov 13 and Nov 7) but you probably won’t be able to read them on their site as you need to pay for articles…
Phew. I finally finished the last Harry Potter book, which got me thinking…I wonder what the most challenged books will be for 2007? It’s more of a small curiosity rather than wondering who is going to win the next Eurovision Song Contest or the Stanley Cup. Last year And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson…
After reading many articles (New York Times Books, Librarian.net, American Libraries) on the hullabaloo about The Higher Power of Lucky, I finally was able to get my hands on a copy of the book and read it for myself. In case you missed the kerfuffle, the word “scrotum” is one of the words that Susan…
intellectual freedom committee - bcla 