#bannedbooks

Don't we all just LOVE the hashtag?  I know you do.  I thought it was about time I use it for the title of a post, and since last week was one of the most popular and important weeks for a library's year of activities, I thought I should bust it out.  But, I digress before I even begin...

BANNED BOOKS!!!  Every librarian's favorite topic!  Since this is my first year as an official school librarian/media specialist, I couldn't let Banned Books Week pass me by.  I am in a junior high/middle school, so I have to be careful what I push to these younger ones, but I feel like I was able to give an introduction to Banned Books in a fairly safe, yet interesting way.  I have created another big display for Banned Books, and I have also created one lesson (so far) to introduce the concept to the students. 

 A display with just a few of the banned/challenged books from our collection.  

NOTE:  The books on the bottom shelf include authors that have been banned/challenged, but not necessarily the specific title that had been banned/challenged.

 Students couldn't believe that some of their favorites--like Drama, Dr. Seuss, and Charlotte's Web--had been banned or challenged. 

 I created a short powerpoint and bookmark for the students to fill out.  As I went through the idea of Banned Books--what they are, why people try to ban/challenge books, popular titles that have been banned--I had students fill in a short bookmark for a future pop quiz.  At the end of the lesson I gave each table of students a baggie filled with a banned book cover that had been cut up into pieces.  The students had to put the puzzle back together to find out what banned book they had, and then they had to pick a representative from the group to read out loud why the book had been banned/challenged.  They did an AWESOME job working together and sharing their titles!

 Can you guess what titles they're putting together?

I even let Cardinals fans play. 

Along with the puzzle activity and display, I have put on the center of each table a quote from an author who has had titles banned or challenged and have put READstricted signs throughout the library.  I also have one trivia question/day to raise awareness of banned books.  (More on the trivia in a future post.)

So far, all is going well in our month-long "celebration" of banned books.  I have another activity planned for next week about banned picture books, and several students have already been asking about it!  Yay!