FREADOM!

An important part of a librarian’s job is being an intellectual freedom fighter. The first week of October is nationally known as Banned Book Week, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of recognizing books that have been challenged for having objectionable content. Any work is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason. Those who make complaints are censoring materials based on their own moral, political, or religious beliefs. This practice is constitutionally unlawful in regards to the first amendment. The Freedom to Read Foundation summaries this concept nicely, by stating: “Free People Read Freely.” There is nothing wrong with self-censoring, but when individual or select-group opinions are presented as for the good of all, it violates a basic human right recognized by our forefathers in the US Constitution.

A large number of challenged books are identified by censors as “harmful to children.” Over the course of the last 30 years, some of the challenged books include classics such as: To Kill a Mockingbird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and more recently recognized the Harry Potter series. There are hundreds of books targeted by censors each year as containing violence, profanity, or racially sensitive wording. It is understandable that parents may have issues about what their children could be exposed to and it is within parents’ rights to restrict the reading materials of their own child.

But, public libraries belong to everyone, and collections should be representative of society‘s knowledge. We all know the world isn’t “Pleasantville.” What may be shocking to some is ordinary to others. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." Visit the library today and celebrate your freedom to read!

Dates to remember in October:

Adult programming offers “Pace Yourself” Computer Classes on Tuesday mornings at 11:00. Classes using Microsoft Word will be available on October 10, 17 & 24 also at 11:00 a.m.

Learn to crochet at a “Get Crafty” class on October 20 at 10:00 a.m. This month’s project will be Stadium Pillows. All ages and experience levels are welcome. Call 846-2041 for more information.

Children’s department will be visiting Lansing for “Story Time at Town Hall” on October 19 at 10:30 a.m. Story-time in the library will take place on Tuesdays at 10:30 and Tot-time is on Wednesdays also at 10:30 a.m. Afternoon Adventures for ages 7-9 are planned for the second Wednesday of each month at 2:00 p.m.

Inditers, a young writers group for grades 6-12, meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 4:00 p.m.

A special double-feature movie time is scheduled for Halloween: The Ring at 10:00 a.m. and The Ring II at 2:00 p.m. Visit the library in costume for treats from 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.

As we plan for the holidays, join us in decorating a “Poetry Tree” to be on display at the Art Council. Ornaments decorated with poems of a seasonal theme will be collected between now and Nov. 10