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Banned in the U. S. A. Since the first edition was published to acclaim and awards in 1994, librarians have relied on the work of noted intellectual freedom authority Herbert N. Foerstel. This expanded edition presents a thorough analysis of the current state of book banning in schools and public libraries, offering ready reference material on major incidents, legal cases, and annotated entries on the most frequently challenged books. Every section of this work has been significantly rewritten, updated, or expanded to reflect those developments. In-depth accounts of three new landmark book banning incidents are featured, along with a discussion of recent Supreme Court decisions involving censorship on the Internet and in book publishing, and a consideration of their implications for book banning in schools and public libraries. Two new interviews with authors of banned books--David Guterson and Leslea Newman--join the interviews with authors profiled in the first edition, many of which have been updated. The heart of the book is a Survey of Banned Books, revised with annotated entries on the 50 most frequently challenged books for 1996 through 2000; the Harry Potter series tops the list. Finally, all new appendixes feature an updated ALA list of Most Frequently Challenged Books and Authors Through 2000 and graphs that help to clarify key information.
Book Banning in 21st-Century America Requests for the removal, relocation, and restriction of books--also known as challenges--occur with some frequency in the United States. Book Banning in 21st-Century American Libraries, based on thirteen contemporary book challenge cases in schools and public libraries across the United States argues that understanding contemporary reading practices, especially interpretive strategies, is vital to understanding why people attempt to censor books in schools and public libraries. Previous research on censorship tends to focus on legal frameworks centered on Supreme Court cases, historical case studies, and bibliographies of texts that are targeted for removal or relocation and is often concerned with how censorship occurs. The current project, on the other hand, is focused on the why of censorship and posits that many censorship behaviors and practices, such as challenging books, are intimately tied to the how one understands the practice of reading and its effects on character development and behavior. It discusses reading as a social practice that has changed over time and encompasses different physical modalities and interpretive strategies. In order to understand why people challenge books, it presents a model of how the practice of reading is understood by challengers including "what it means" to read a text, and especially how one constructs the idea of "appropriate" reading materials. The book is based on three different kinds sources. The first consists of documents including requests for reconsideration and letters, obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests to governing bodies, produced in the course of challenge cases. Recordings of book challenge public hearings constitute the second source of data. Finally, the third source of data is interviews with challengers themselves. The book offers a model of the reading practices of challengers. It demonstrates that challengers are particularly influenced by what might be called a literal "common sense" orientation to text wherein there is little room for polysemic interpretation (multiple meanings for text). That is, the meaning of texts is always clear and there is only one avenue for interpretation. This common sense interpretive strategy is coupled with what Cathy Davidson calls "undisciplined imagination" wherein the reader is unable to maintain distance between the events in a text and his or her own response. These reading practices broaden our understanding of why people attempt to censor books in public institutions.
Controversial Books in K-12 Classrooms and Libraries Controversial Books in K-12 Classrooms and Libraries: Challenged, Censored, and Banned analyzes the history of controversy surrounding assigned reading in K-12 classrooms and books available in school libraries. Randy Bobbitt outlines the history of book banning and controversy in the United States, stemming from 1950s conservative Cold War values of patriotism and respect for authority and ramping up through the 1960s and onward as media coverage and parental intervention into the inner workings of schools increased. The author claims that sensitive topics, including sexuality, suicide, and drug use, do not automatically imply the glorification of deviant behavior, but can be used constructively to educate students about the reality of life. Bobbitt argues that in an effort to shield children from the dangers of controversial issues, parents and administrators are depriving them of the ability to discover and debate values that are inconsistent with their own and those around them, teaching instead that avoidance of different viewpoints is the solution. Scholars of education, communication, literature, and policy will find this book especially useful.
Critical Insights: Censored & Banned Literature Censored & Banned Literature examines the wide range of important literary texts that have been subjected to censorship, either at the time of their first publication, later in their history, or both. Because important works frequently offer challenging responses to social, historical, and political issues, often it is the very best works that provoke - at least initially - the most hostility or discomfort. This volume includes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (1884), The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger (1951) and Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987).
The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil Rights, Censorship, and the American Library In 1950, after three decades of exemplary service, Brown was summarily dismissed from her job as librarian at the Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Public Library. Though the ostensible reason was circulating subversive materials, Robbins (Library and Information studies, U. of Wisconsin-Madison) says it was because she advocated racial equality and had helped form a group affiliated with the Congress of Racial Equality. She emphasizes the matrix of personal, community, state, and national forces that can still lead to censorship, intolerance, and suppression.
Oppposing Censorship in Public Schools In the past several years, hundreds of challenges a year to books used in public schools have been reported across the nation. Most of these have come from the Religious Right. This book confronts the attacks on public education and commonly used literature books by challenging the religious assumptions, the biblical interpretations, and the intimidation tactics of the Religious Right. Part I counters the claims of these censors by presenting opposing views on democracy, secular humanism, religion, the Bible, morality, and the purposes of literature. In Part II, six books frequently taught in high school classes are analyzed. Edwards shows why they have been challenged by the Religious Right, and presents a case for their moral and religious virtues as well as their literary worth. The book differs from other anti-censorship works because it deals primarily and directly with the religious and moral aspects that educators often tend to avoid. This book offers teachers and school administrators scholarly conterarguments that can help confront with literature challenges from the Religious Right.
Seize the Book, Jail the Author Under the patronage of two south German nobles, Johann Lorenz Schmidt published an annotated translation of the Bible's opening books in 1735. The story of the controversy the work aroused and of its eventual suppression sheds light on many aspects of the eighteenth century, as well as the nature of censorship in our time.
True Stories of Censorship Battles in America's Libraries Intellectual freedom is a core value of librarianship, but fighting to keep controversial materials on the shelves can sometimes feel like a lonely battle. And not all censorship controversies involve the public objecting to a book in the collection-libraries are venues for displays and meetings, and sometimes library staff themselves are tempted to preemptively censor a work. Those facing censorship challenges can find support and inspiration in this book, which compiles dozens of stories from library front lines. Edifying and enlightening, this collection Tells the stories of several librarians who withstood difficult circumstances to champion intellectual freedom Touches on prickly issues such as age-appropriateness, some librarians temptation to preemptively censor, sensitive cultural expressions, and criminality in the library Presents case studies of defenses that were unsuccessful, so librarians facing similar challenges can learn from these defeats There are fewer situations more stressful in a librarians professional life than being personally confronted with a demand to remove a book from the shelves or not knowing how to respond to other kinds of censorship challenges. Reading this book will help fortify and inform those in the fray.

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100 Banned Books : Censorship Histories of World Literature 100 Banned Books profiles well-known, often classic works that have been censored for religious, political, social or sexual reasons. Each entry gives readers a summary of the work, its censorship history and suggestions for further reading.
120 Banned Books : Censorship Histories and World Literature Tracing the censorship histories of 120 works from around the world, this title provides a summary of each work, its censorship history, and suggestions for further reading. Updates to existing entries cover new controversies regarding such classic books as 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'The Canterbury Tales'.
Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds Gives plot synopses of 105 works of fiction and nonfiction censored for their political content, and details the censorship history of each. Works covered include Black Boy, Gulliver's Travels, Inside the Company: CIA Diary, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich . Includes biographical prof
Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds Discusses some 100 books that have been targets of religious censorship over the centuries, encompassing texts of the world's major religions, novels, and classic works of philosophy, science, and history, as well as contemporary works. Alphabetical entries describe the content of each work and rev
Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds When Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata was banned from distribution through the mail (except for first class) in 1890, New York street vendors began selling it from pushcarts carrying large signs reading ""Suppressed!"" In 1961, the United States Supreme Court pondered whether D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was lewd or literary. In 1969, the novel was required reading in many college literature courses. Changing sexual mores have moved many formerly forbidden books out of locked cabinets and into libraries and classrooms.
Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds From Uncle Tom's Cabin to East of Eden, and from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and more.