Banned Books That Shaped America

Have you read The Great Gatsby? What about Moby Dick or Gone with the Wind? If so, these are just a few of the thousands of titles that have been banned at some point by a school, library or other organization for inappropriate content. 

Each year, hundreds of books are challenged and subsequently reported to the American Library Association. Often, the books that make it on ALA’s Challenged Books list, are the same books that have a profound impact on society and the way its readers view the world. ALA recently released its Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 which included books like Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki. 

 Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, ala.org/bbooks/NLW-Top10 

In 2012, the Library of Congress created an exhibition of Books That Shaped America “to spark a national conversation on books and their importance in Americans’ lives.” This year, the Banned Books Coalition cross-referenced this list with ALA’s Challenged Books lists to create a list of Banned Books That Shaped America. This list inspired the display below, which can be spotted on the third floor of the Ort Library. 

Celebrate your freedom to read by picking up one of these titles at the library today!

Featured Online Resource, Patriotic Melodies Collection from Library of Congress

In honor of the upcoming 4^th of July Holiday, this week’s Featured Online Resource is the Patriotic Melodies Collection from the Library of Congress.  This collection provides background information on many of the songs that are part of the American consciousness.  The collection includes hymns, national songs, and other songs relevant to the American experience.  Some songs included are America the Beautiful, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, and This Land is Your Land.  Each entry contains information about the song, the sheet music, song sheets, and sound recordings.  Many of the songs have multiple recordings.  For example, America the Beautiful has recordings by the US Marine Band and the US Navy Band.

Every week, the Ort Library brings you a new and outstanding resource from the Web or from one of the library's databases. To get an archive of all FOR entries, click here. Also, you can suggest a website that provides well-organized access to useful info.

Featured Online Resource, African American History Month website from Library of Congress and National Archives

This week’s Featured Online Resource is the website http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/index.html, a joint website from the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and other agencies. The site contains links to online exhibits and collections available from these different government agencies. It also contains an online exhibit “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty” which looks at the lives of six of the slave families living at Monticello around the time of his drafting the Declaration of Independence.

The site also contains links to the Veterans History Project, “African Americans at War: Fighting Two Battles” and photos from the Harlem Renaissance.

Every week, the Ort Library brings you a new and outstanding resource from the Web or from one of the library's databases. To get an archive of all FOR entries, click here. Also, you can suggest a website that provides well-organized access to useful info.

Featured Online Resource, October 10

This week's Featured Online Resource is Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/)

This project has digitized historic newspapers from 1836 – 1922. You can search for a specific newspaper by name or search for newspapers by state. The project currently has 581 newspapers they have digitized. You can click on the image of the newspaper and move around on the page as if you were reading it in print. You can also zoom in and get a better view of a particular article. The site also allows you to download the newspaper in PDF as well.

Every week, the Ort Library brings you a new and outstanding resource from the Web or from one of the library's databases. To get an archive of all FOR entries, click here. Also, you can suggest a website that provides well-organized access to useful info.

Learn More About Constitution Day

Constitution Day Is Sept. 17th

Learn more about the United States Constitution with the following links:
Interactive

Constitution Center.org
virtual field trips, interactive games, etc.
The Constitutional Convention
From teachingamericanhistory.org, includes an interactive map and a four-part drama by Gordon Lloyd.
Library of Congress: a Century of Lawmaking
Not highly interactive, but searchable, with a wealth of information.

Maryland's Role in Constitution

Bio, Daniel Carroll
Bio, James McHenry
Letter, Daniel Carroll to George Washington: navigate to others by Carroll.