Banned Books Week

Each year the American Library Association cosponsors Banned Books Week. September 21-28, 2002 was the week chosen to highlight the continuing challenges to our right to read any book we choose.

The individuals or groups that challenge books are attempting to protect others, usually children, from difficult or unpleasant ideas or information. The material is generally considered "sexually explicit", contains "offensive language" or is "unsuited to an age group." The ALA maintains that the freedom to choose is important, and parents, not libraries, should be supervising what children read.

I have listed the books that were most often challenged (an attempt was made to remove or restrict them from a library) in 2001:

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (RC 47260, 48437, 48772, 50228)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (RC 48515)
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (RC 33593)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (RC 24959)
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene (RC 36625)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (RC 47480)
Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (several titles)
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (RC 44179)
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (RC 29775)
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (RC 45584)

Narrator Award

In June, the American Foundation for the Blind presented the 16th annual Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award to Kimberley Schraf, Bob Askey, George Holmes and Dale Carter. Here are the winners:

• Fiction: RC 50897 Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. Narrated by Kimberly Schraf. Bestseller about the slow disintegration of a family
• Nonfiction: RC 51912 Life is so Good by George Dawson. Narrated by Bob Askey. Memoirs of a 101-year-old African American man from the South
• Poetry: RC 52409 Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Narrated by George Holmes
• Lifetime Achievement Award to Dale Carter. One book narrated by her is RC 13256 Whipple's Castle by Thomas Williams. Small town New England life in the 30's and 40's.

New Choices Magazine

The magazine New Choices ceased publication in May, 2002. Readers who subscribed to the cassette version from the National Library Service will not be receiving further issues or a replacement magazine.

Sarah Josepha Hale Award

On October 12th author Ernest Hebert will be presented with the 2002 Sarah Josepha Hale Award at the Newport (NH) Opera House. This award, begun in 1956, is given annually to a writer who maintains a connection to New England. The award honors Hale, a Newport native who authored many books and poems, and was editor of Godey's Lady's Book. Hale lobbied for the adoption of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Ernest Hebert is a native of Keene, NH, now living in West Lebanon. He is a Professor of English at Dartmouth College and author of several novels about New England life. Two are in our collection:

RC 15525 The Dogs of March
RC 19122 A Little More Than Kin

Bookshare.org

Readers with Internet access can explore books available at the site bookshare.org. Over 10,000 books have been scanned into the database by volunteers (quality will vary). These books can be downloaded to your computer and printed in Braille or read by synthetic voice devices. To obtain access to these books readers must provide proof of disability (a copyright requirement) and pay a subscription fee.

Student Readers

With school underway we'd like to remind parents and students to take advantage of our excellent collection of books for background reading or reports. We'd also like to remind you that we do NOT have textbooks, which must be obtained from an agency called Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. Our books are mailed in green containers, textbooks from RFB&D are in blue containers. If you are using our cassette player just for textbooks, you must return our machine. Your child's school district is responsible for educational equipment.

Survival Tips

Do you like "reality" television shows? I admit I'm addicted to the "Survivor" shows. Another reality show called Worst Case Scenario is on the TBS station Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. The show highlights dangerous situations and how to survive them. It is based on the book The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven (RC 50515). The book, a 1999 bestseller, surveys survival experts about how to prepare for medical crises, animal attacks, natural disasters, and more. Why don't you try the book and the tv show?

Passages

Two award-winning authors died earlier this year. Their literary contributions will be missed.

Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002) won several awards for her young adult works. She was born on a farm in Ohio, and lived there also as an adult. Her first book was Zeely (RC 43034). She was the first African-American author to win the coveted John Newbery Medal for children's literature for M.C. Higgins, the Great (RC 36699). Other honors include the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1992 for her body of work, and she was the only author of juvenile books to receive a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, in 1995. She won the Coretta Scott King Award three times, for The People Could Fly; Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (RC 19388); and A Little Love (RC 23302).

Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould died of cancer in May, 2002. Gould was born in New York City in 1941, and was Professor of Geology and Zoology at Harvard at the time of his death. His works about evolution and biology are very accessible to non-scientists. Several of his books about science won awards. The Panda's Thumb (RC 17176) won the American Book Award for Science in 1981; Wonderful Life (RC 33372) won the Science Book Prize for 1990; and The Mismeasure of Man (RC 17413) won the 1982 National Book Critics' Circle Award.

Galileo's Troubles

Another scientist, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), is the subject of a PBS documentary this fall. The NOVA producers will air a two hour biography of Galileo on October 29th. The documentary is based on the book Galileo's Daughter (RC 48871) by Dava Sobel. The book, and the film, tell the controversial story of his life through the letters of his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Galileo, considered the father of modern science, was persecuted by the Catholic Church for his beliefs, especially that the earth revolves around the sun. Other books in our collection about Galileo include:

RC 28389 Galileo: Heretic by Pietro Redondi
RC 39578 Galileo by James Reston
RC 46846 Galileo Galilei by James MacLachlan. Biography for grades 6-9

NCI National Help Desk

The National Captioning Institute, with support from Microsoft Corporation, has opened the NCI National Help Desk. Support staff will answer public inquiries about closed caption television and video, and described videos. There is no charge for this service. The Help Desk can be reached by their website at www.ncihelpdesk.org; by fax at 703-917-9878; by telephone at 703-917-7686; or by mail (NCI, 1900 Gallows Road, Suite 3000, Vienna VA 22182).

Romance Awards

The Romance Writers Of America, an association with 8400 members, annually celebrates the best works of romance with the RITA Awards. Below are some of the best romances of 2000:

RC 53836 The Highlander's Touch by Karen Marie Moning. "Best Paranormal Romance"
RC 45184 Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts. "Best Romantic Suspense"
RC 50721 First Lady by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. "Best Contemporary Single-Title Romance"

Notes and Messages

Please do NOT include notes in the books that you are returning. Often these notes are requests, or questions that need attention. However, by the time the notes are discovered, your mail card with your name on it has been removed from the case and we have no way of helping you. Please give us a telephone call with your requests or questions.