Banned Book Week Display - Library Life

Last week was Banned Book Week. You might be wondering, 'Why is the library promoting such scandalous books?' Well the only thing that is a scandal is that books are being challenged and removed from the collection! A person has the right to challenge a book that they find offensive, however the removal of said book denies other people the right to read it. The books that have been banned or challenge will surprise you. Its not all steamy teen novels! Captain Underpants, Where the Wild Things Are and Harry Potter are all books that have been banned. Banned Book Week is intended to raise awareness and make readers realize and exercise their right to choose whatever they want to read!

I teamed up with another librarian, Colleen. We both came across some pictures of people posing with banned books in a faux police line up. Colleen handled the creation of the police line-up and book together other promotional materials and organized a raffle. I helped by using the chalk board technique to make the sign kids held up.

I also made letters spelling out Banned Book Week. We put them on the window and they looked pretty cool. I took an old book and tore out the pages. Before you get all on my case about destroying a book... it was being weeded because it was super old and was a bit stinky. Also it was One Flew Over the Cuckoos' Nest a banned book! I used my super hand silhouette cameo and make the letters. I glue them on top of some card stock to reinforce it. I also had the letters laminated so that way we can use them again next year!

So September...

I have had another jam packed week. Here is what has been going on.... 

Banned Book Week prep 

Today is the first day of Banned book week! Its a week of celebrating everyones right to read and stop censorship. This is a big passionate issue in the library world. So we celebrate it every year and spread awareness. Another teen librarian, Colleen and I had a similar idea of a display for the week. We both came across this idea on pinterest. She handled the police line up backdrop. I used the chalk board technique to make the sign kids will hold up. I also made some fancy letters using a banned book! We hung it in the window and here is how it came out. (Fun Fact: the book pages I used are from an actual banned book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) 

Attachments 

Since reading Eleanor and Park a few weeks ago, my new favorite author is Rainbow Rowell. I've been trying to get a hold of everything she has written! I went through Attachments pretty quickly. I was a little hesitant because its technically an adult book. I usually don't read many adult books, however this is a book about people my age. It struck a chord because the characters were so relatable. I know people like them! Hell, the main character plays D & D! 

It's about Lincoln, a guy who takes a computer safety job thinking he will be building epic firewalls and security systems at a local newspaper. He is disappointed to find out that his job is actually reading employee e-mails and tattling on people not doing work. Lincoln hates his boring job until he comes across the correspondence between Jennifer and Beth. He is taken with their humor and looks forward to reading their e-mails. He slowly realizes he is falling in love with Beth. The snarky, witty movie critic that Lincoln has never even seen or met! 

Previously I tried reading She Hulk Diaries. I stopped half way through. It was so dumb and not real. It was like if Carrie Bradshaw was exposed to Gamma radiation. Reading this was a breathe of fresh air. 

Maker Faire 

I was pumped to attend Maker Faire 2013! My friend Megan joined me and we saw some pretty neat stuff. There were the Maker Faire regulars like the Life-Sized mousetrap and Eepy Bird and their mentos and diet coke extravaganza. We saw a lot of other cool science-y things from 3-D printers to giant butterfly bicycles. I was excited to see the craftacular! I met some other craters and makers. Megan and I made some soap. Mine is lavender and I think Tim is having some sort of allergic reaction to it. It was lots of fun, however I felt they have cut out a lot of craft stuff. I didn't see instructables or Etsy there at all so I am a little bummed about that. All in all I had a good time. 

I got this really neato Game of Thrones t-shirt!

Baby Shower 

My friend Marlene is expecting her first child! I'm really excited for her and this past weekend was her baby shower. I put together a nice little basket of fun baby things. It was a little tough, she wants the sex to be a surprise, so it's really tough shopping for gender neutral baby things. What's up with that society? Despite that little snafu, I made her a card and it came out really cute....