Campaign Against Library Censorship

As a former Librarian I believe that a diverse selection of literature is necessary in a school.  Classics, Contemporary, Graphic Novels, fluff, whatever.  I also believe that our libraries need to reflect the diversity of our clientele.    I am totally against censorship of books.  I don't think we need Fahrenheit 451 happening in real life.  I do love Ray Bradbury's writing.   What is going on in Texas and other states I find to be just crazy.  I am not trying to make this political as I have not done much of that in this blog but Librarians need to make sure that we give students the opportunity to think and decide on their own.  What I like you may not and what you like I may not.  Doesn't matter.  Pick a different book if you are offended.  That being said here is a good article for any Librarian or English teacher, just click here  hopefully after checking out my amazon.ca ads below.   If you are  making any amazon.ca purchase  please click on my links below first as I will get a small commission on anything you buy even if it is something else as long as it is within 24 hours.   Thanks.  This post may contain affiliate links that earns me  a commission at no extra cost to you.  Buy your Christmas gifts soon and check out the pre Black Friday ads below.   The JBL ear buds below are a great price again.  I might even buy a pair at $89 for myself.

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Breaking up with your favorite racist childhood classic books

 

Philip Nel, a professor of English at Kansas State University, has a conversation with reporter Valerie Strauss about racism in children's books.  To see the article click here.

WILLIE O’REE: LESSONS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACISM

 

From the OMHA, "Produced by Bryant McBride, the Willie documentary tells the story of Willie O’Ree, the first black player in the NHL. O’Ree had a tremendous impact on the sport of hockey and the communities he served. The NHL and Classroom Champions have come together to create a digital experience to facilitate discussion and learning around social justice and race through the lens of O’Ree’s experiences shown in the documentary."

They have included a link to a downloadable teachers guide and resource on the site. To see the website click here.

To Kill a Mockingbird & the Scottsboro Boys Trial

Mary Edmonds has put together a series of  lesson plans that  span 5 to 8 periods  The learning objectives for this unit are as follows:

• to expose the students to the history and cultural milieu of the deep south in 1935 America
• to demonstrate close contextual reading
• to gain an awareness of how one's society might force its citizens to take unpopular, but moral stances in order to promote change 

To see the lesson plans click here.