LONG ISLAND COALITION AGAINST CENSORSHIP
Donald Parker, Co-coordinator
Long Island Coalition Against Censorship

When planning your exhibits for Banned Books Week in September or a month in 2003 or 2004, you may wish to consider including the new edition of the exhibit, Censorship in Schools and Libraries published by the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship. The exhibit presents 32 illustrations, each one approximately 11" x 14" with accompanying text that is 11" x 14". The history of censorship in libraries and public schools highlights incidents of censorship that have occurred in the United States during the last one hundred years. Included are descriptions of the censorship of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, In the Night Kitchen, The Catcher in the Rye and the novels of Judy Blume and Robert Cormier. The United States Supreme Court and lower court decisions are an integral part of the exhibit.

The new edition includes efforts to censor the popular Harry Potter's children's books. (In late December 2002, Harry Potter books were burned in Alamagordo, New Mexico), efforts by some school officials to censor student web sites, and the censorship of literacy selections on Language Arts examinations in New York State. In addition to the new cases, there is an update of censorship incidents in libraries and schools that occurred from 1990 to 2003. Quality copies of the exhibit have been reproduced which may be readily presented in the library on poster boards and retained as a reference source. If your space is limited, we suggest that you rotate the panels during the time the exhibit is on display. Excerpts from the exhibit and the cost are available from our web site, www.the-licac.org under "Censorship in Schools and Libraries." Additional information can also be obtained via e-mail, coalcen@juno.com or writing to us at LICAC, P.O. Box 296, Port Washington, N.Y. 11050.

-reprinted with permission

(The Long Island Coalition Against Censorship is a non-profit education association of 22 organizations (15 of which are libraries or professional library organizations).