Thursday, March 30, 2006

Banned Books Week

Bets on whether my local public library puts Free Inquiry Magazine on display during "Banned Books Week"? We now know Borders and Waldenbooks won't.

A few years ago, my library pulled the Nancy Drew series from the shelves because it "didn't have enough multicultural role models for girls." After parents howled enough, they returned them but hid them in a special section of "books of historical interest," that you have to ask for help to find.

I sought it out, and found other books of historical interest that had been hidden in the patrons' best interests, including this and this.

Not all the librarians buy into this sort of thing, fortunately. When I asked one whether "Nancy Drew" would be on display during Banned Book Week, she smiled, shook her head, and said, "Exactly!"