Banned Books Week: September 27 - October 3, 2020

Banned Books Week began in 1982 when libraries notices that many books were being challenged and/or removed from libraries, schools, and bookstore. Since 1982, libraries and other organizations have taken an active role in making sure the public is aware of the books that are being challenged and to make sure that everyone has the " FREEDOM TO READ".

This year's theme for Banned Books Week is: 

Censorship of a Dead End. Find your Freedom to Read! 

The library has a display on Banned Books Week with some information about the most challenged books of 2019 and some of the books that have been challenged. The library also has a small display of books (that can be checked out) of books that have been challenged throughout the years.

 

 

 

 

Banned Books Reading October 2

 Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org

On October 2 at 7 pm, the Lewis J. Ort Library and FSU's English Honor Society will sponsor a Banned Books Reading.

The theme of this year's Banned Books Week is: Banning Books Silences Stories

The event is free and open to the public and will be held on the 3rd floor of the library.

Please also see the Lewis J. Ort's display for Banned Books Week that is located on the 3rd floor of the library.

 
For more information, contact Dr. Mary Anne Lutz, from FSU’s Department of English, at mlutz@frostburg.edu or Dr. Lea Messman-Mandicott, from the Ort Library, at lmessman@frostburg.edu or call 301-687-4395. 

Banned Books Week 2018 - Banning Books Silences Stories

Banned Books Week 2018 is being celebrated September 23 - 29.

The theme for 2018 is: Banning Books Silences Stories

Please stop by the display on the 3rd floor of the library to see some of the reasons why books are banned/challenged. There are also books available to check out that have been challenged/banned.

The display will be up until the Banned Books Reading on October 2, 2018.

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!

Banned Books Reading

Members of Sigma Tau Delta, FSU's English Honor Society, hosted its annual Banned Books Reading in the Lewis J. Ort Library on the evening of October 3rd. Participating student readers chose books that had been banned in the past as controversial like Stephen King's The Shining and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games and read selections.

Every year since 1982, the American Library Association has celebrated the freedom to read through this event. Banned books on the 2017 list included Little Bill, Looking for Alaska and This One Summer. 

Librarians and teachers resist the attempts of censors to restrict access to targeted books by celebrating rather than condemning banned titles. Banned Books available for circulation at the Ort Library were displayed throughout the week. 

Celebrate Banned Books Week 2017

The Lewis J. Ort Library Celebrates Banned Books Week 2017

Banned Books Week runs from September 24 through September 30. Banned Books Week began in 1982 when libraries began to notice that a large number of books were being challenged and/or removed from libraries, schools, and bookstores. Since 1982, libraries and other organizations have taken an active role in making sure the public is aware of the books that are being challenged and to make sure everyone has the “FREEDOM TO READ”.

This year’s theme for Banned Books Week is: 

WORDS HAVE POWER

 

Image retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/Facebook1b.png

Stop by the Ort Library to see a display on Banned Books and check out some of the books that have been challenged (those that people have asked to have banned).

On Tuesday October 3^rd at 7 pm there will be a Banned Books Reading in the Ort Library. The English Honors Society Sigma Tau Delta and the Ort Library at Frostburg State University are sponsoring an evening of readings from books deemed controversial enough to be challenged or banned. Please join us on October 3^rd to read your favorite Banned Book.

Ort Library Hosts Banned Book Reading

Thirty participants listened to readings of selections from banned books in the Ort Library on October 4. The event was co-sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, FSU's English Honor Society and the Ort Library.

Readings included excerpts from titles: The Amityville Horror, Scary Stories, The Grapes of Wrath, Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn.

Dr. Mary Anne Lutz, Honor Society Adviser, is pictured below with Bailey Kight, Kat Wharton, Katie Duddridge, Nick Gray, Niki Folk, Megan Alvarez and Marshall Sandifer.

Banned Books Week Reading in Library - October 4, 7 pm

Frostburg State University’s English Honors Society Sigma Tau Delta and the Ort Library will host a banned books reading on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the Ort Library on campus. Members of the campus and local community are invited to attend and read excerpts from books deemed controversial enough to be banned or challenged.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available. For further information contact Dr. Mary Anne Lutz of the FSU Department of English at mlutz@frostburg.edu or Dr. Lea Messman-Mandicott of the Ort Library at lmessman@frostburg.edu.

Banned Books Week - Sept. 25 - Oct. 1

The Lewis J. Ort Library Celebrates Banned Books Week 2016

Banned Books Week runs from September 25 through October 1. Banned Books Week began in 1982 when libraries began to notice that a large number of books were being challenged and/or removed from libraries, schools, and bookstores. Since 1982, libraries and other organizations have taken an active role in making sure the public is aware of the books that are being challenged and to make sure everyone has the “FREEDOM TO READ”. This year’s theme for Banned Books Week is Diversity. Stop by the Ort Library to see a display on Banned Books and check out some of the books that have been challenged (those that people have asked to have banned).

The American Library Association is asking that during Banned Books Week you ask yourself the following questions:

• Who in your life has most influenced your love of books and your right to read?
• Which banned book character would you want to have lunch with?
• Which book would you go to jail defending?
• Which banned book would you memorize to prevent being lost to the sands of time?
• If you could go back in time, which book would you give your younger self?

The display for Banned Books Week will be up through October 4.