Banned Books Week 2009

Banned Books Week 2009 will be celebrated from September 26 to October 3. This annual commemoration is sponsored by the American Library Association to champion the freedom to read and the rights of free expression. The list of "Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008" has also been released. And Tango Makes Three tops the list. Among the new entries is The Kite Runner.

Banned Books Website: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged/2008/index.cfm

Best of Baby Boom Children's Literature

The newspaper magazine supplement American Profile had a article about classic children's literature of the Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964). Among its choices were The Cat in the Hat, Where the Wild Things Are, and The Giving Tree. To see the rest of the Top 10, and the reasons behind them, go to
http://www.americanprofile.com/article/35263.html

Target Book Club

A recent article in The New York Times discussed how the Target department store chain was having an impact on book sales. For example, Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key sold only 2000 copies in its original publication run. After being chosen as a selection of Target's Bookmarked Book Club, a specially printed edition sold over 145,000 copies. More information is found in the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/books/22target.html?scp=1&sq=target%20books&st=cse

Online Vs. Physical Bookstores

There was an interesting article by Simon Heffer in The Daily Telegraph about his preference for brick-and-mortar bookstores over online ones. He says the the experience of physically looking for and examining a book in a book store trumps looking for them in cyberspace. But that experience is fast becoming a thing of the past as bookstores shut down and move to the Internet. I agree with that sentiment, even though I bought a couple of books this weekend from Ebay and Alibris. The selection is wider at online bookstores, but Heffer is right that there is something special about browsing in a bookstore.

"There's No Smell on the Shelves of Cyberspace": http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/simonheffer/5994624/Theres-no-smell-on-the-shelves-of-cyberspace.html

Best Kids' Books?

In his New York Times column on Sunday, Nicholas Kristof chose his selections for what he thinks are "The Best Kids' Books Ever." Charlotte's Web tops the list. Harry Potter, the Hardy Boys, and Alex Rider are there too, as is one of my favorites, The Wind and the Willows. Kristof's column, including the full list is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/opinion/05kristof.html?em

Kristof's blog, "On the Ground," has additional selections from readers: http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/

Do you agree?

Ray Bradbury on Libraries

Eminent author Ray Bradbury is raising money and awareness for his local public library. "I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries," he says. The whole story, including a video, is avaiable from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/20ventura.html?scp=2&sq=ray%20bradbury&st=cse

To Tweet or Not to Tweet-That is the Question

There were a spate of articles in the business section of yesterday's Charlotte Observer about Twitter and its' usefulness. This article (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/754733.html) was a general survey about it. There were also pro(http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/754667.html) and con (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/754666.html) takes on Twitter. As for your library blogger, I'm with the "con" about Twitter. I think that it's all froth and little coffee.