It's Awards Time Again!

Yes, it's that time again! Awards are being aired practically every weekend for the next month. We have The Golden Globes, The Grammys, and The Oscars. Everyone in entertainment is getting ready to be recognized for their great performances in film and music. While all the TV hype has been going on, the lists for award winning young adult literature quietly arrived in my email box. Here are a few titles to tantalize my teen readers.

PRINTZ AWARD

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. On October 11, 1943, a British spy plane crashes in Nazi occupied France. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she becomes friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett. Seventeen year old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he makes his living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl, not even if her fate impacts the most powerful people in England. With Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose (on order). In 1995, he received a black band on his lower right leg and an orange flag on his upper left, bearing the laser inscription B95. Scientists call him the Moonbird because, in the course of his astoundingly long life, this gritty, four ounce marathoner has flown the distance to the moon and half way back. B95 is a robin sized shorebird from the rufa species. Each February, he joins a flock that lifts off from Tierra del Fuego, headed for the breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, nine thousand miles away. This species of bird has lost nearly 80% of its population because many of its ancient feeding stations along the migration circuit have been destroyed by human activity. Moonbird has been sighted as recently as November 2011, which makes him nearly twenty years old. Shaking their heads, scientists ask themselves: How can this one bird make it year after year when so many others fail?

Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. A suspenseful combination of science and history, Sheinkin exposes the international race to develop an atomic weapon and bring an end to World War II. This true life spy thriller features an international cast of characters and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Period photographs of key players and an abundance of primary sources bring this well researched story to life.

These are just a few of the winners and all can either be found on the shelves of the Teen Zone or they are in the process of being purchased. These books and their authors are being recognized for great writing, captivating stories, wonderful characters, and interesting research. Don't be afraid to expand your horizons, you may never know what great things you'll find. Ask the Teen Librarian for a full list of winners and finalists.

Holiday Happenings in the Teen Zone

This Fall the Teen Zone has been busy with students working on their Reading Fair projects, studying for tests, and checking out the latest crop of new books.  Halloween slipped by, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so now is the time to think about Christmas!

Local teens in grades 7 through 12 are invited to come to the Teen Zone every Thursday from November 29 through December 13 from 4:00 - 5:30. We have much planned: we will be making ornaments, christmas candy, and gifts for your friends.  We will also use this time to decorate the Teen Zone for the holidays.

Thursday, December 20 the Teen Zone will be open all day for gaming with the Wii, watching holiday movies, and to put any finishing touches to the room decorations.  Popcorn, cookies and drinks will be provided by the library. Bring a friend and get into the Spirit of Christmas! To be sure we have enough materials for everyone, registration is requested. Stop by the library or call 601-445-8862 for more information.

Annual Gathering of Friends

Every September, the Friends of the Library gather together to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and announce the goals for the upcoming year. Usually we meet at the home of a member, but this year we decided to have an Open House at the Library to show it off to the community.

So please join us on Monday, September 17, 5:30 - 7 pm for this special Open House @ your Library, 220 South Commerce Street. Refreshments will be served. It is free and open to the public, although we hope you will become a member of the Friends of the Library. Be sure to bring your children - no one benefits more from a Library than children.

Most people have NO idea of all the services the Library provides. What better way to find out than to visit and see for yourself. Staff will be available to demonstrate all services and answer any questions. Here's a sample of what you may see:

• Of course, we have books! And magazines, newspapers, audio books, DVDs. It's all listed in our online catalog which you can access from anywhere - to search, renew, request materials. And if we don't have what you're looking for, we can probably get it for you.
• You can find out almost anything at your Library. Ask our Reference Librarian and she'll either answer your question or tell you how to find it. Although we have a large assortment of printed reference materials, most resources are online now. Many of these expensive resources are available for free through your Library.
• One of the most valuable resources is Learning Express Library, which has over 770 practice tests and tutorials for ACT/SAT, GRE, certification and licensing exams, and just about anything you need. We also have a special online course to learn a new language.
• We have lots of computers - including 3 that are just for young children, 2 just for teens, and 2 that are designed for reading newspapers online. We have copying and fax machines. We even have a typewriter!
• We have a genealogy and local history section that people from all over the country come to visit, including our microfilm collection and free access to expensive genealogy databases.
• The Children's section is wonderful and includes furniture and other fixtures designed for kids. There's a special section just for the very young child with a much used rocking chair. Of course, we have unbelievable programs for kids.
• Teens have their very own room that just has to be seen. Take a teen in there, and she may never leave!
• We also want to show off all the renovations. Our HVAC renovation is complete, so for the first time in years, we can guarantee it will be comfortable in the Library. You can see the progress of the exterior renovations, which is being funded by contributions from the community.
• Of course, there is much more, but you really have to come and see it for yourself. Even long time library users find stuff they never knew we had.

All you need to access all this is an absolutely free Library Card - and we'll happily give you one at the Open House.

See you @ your Library on Monday, September 17, 5:30 - 7 pm!

This Summer, Teens Own The Night

The theme for this years teen summer library program is Own the Night, and the Armstrong Library Teen Zone is getting ready to provide local area teens with fun and educational programming.  Programs will be held in the Teen Zone on Tuesdays starting June 19 and running through July 10 from 3:00 - 4:30 pm.  We will have book discussions, guest speakers, games, and snacks.  Teens can read and compete for prizes and coupons from local fast food restaurants.  Local area teens in grades 7 - 12 are invited to come in and sign up, with their registration they will receive a cool Teen Zone backpack, glow in the dark key chain, and iron tee shirt transfers. So come join the fun.

June 19: Dream the Night Away! Discover what your dreams mean and create your own Dream Journals.

June 26: Dare to Dream Big! A special guest from the Institute of Higher Learning is coming to talk about preparing for a college education. It's never too early to start.

July 3: Crime and Death! Learn about epitaphs, tombstones, and mummify a hot dog! Test your detective skills with the Minute Mystery Challenge.

July 10: What Goes on in the Nighttime? Crafts and critters will abound in the Teen Zone as teens create their own star charts and make Glow Jars filled with stars. Our special guests will slither and fly their way into the Teen Zone to talk about living the nocturnal life.

For more information, check out the Teen Zone on our website or facebook page.

Summer is the one time a librarian can get kids to read "for fun"! Put down the AR book and pick a book for the shear pleasure of reading a good story. This year I challenge local teens to step out of their comfort zone and read something different, try something new...

Dare to Own the Night!

Road Trip to Hattiesburg

Early April has become my favorite time of year and not just because I can leave winter behind and welcome in springtime, but because I get to take my yearly road trip to USM in Hattiesburg. Why? Because the second week in April is the Fay B Kaigler Children's Book Festival. For forty-five years the festival has been THE place to meet nationally known authors, illustrators, and storytellers.

Each year over 500 teachers and librarians from across the nation come to the University of Southern Mississippi to hear major speakers and participate in concurrent sessions and workshops as authors, illustrators, and experts in the field share their knowledge and experience.

In the past 3 years that I have attended the festival, I met many of my favorite teen authors such as Richard Peck, T A Barron, Maureen Johnson, and Sharon Draper. It is so inspiring to hear their stories of how they became writers and why they love the teen genre. It's also a great opportunity to visit and share books and program ideas with librarians from around the country.

My second favorite thing to do at the book festival is to visit the Lena Y de Grummond Collection which is housed at the university library. The de Grummond Collection is one of the largest literary collections in the country. According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography,

"Lena de Grummond came to the University of Southern Mississippi to teach children's literature in the School of Library Science in 1966, and she envisioned resources that went beyond the classroom textbook. It was her belief that if students could study the creative processes of authors and illustrators by examining the manuscripts and illustrations first hand, she knew they would better appreciate the literature. Before long de Grummond began her search by writing to her favorite creators of children's books and solicited contributions of original manuscripts and typescripts, illustrations, sketchbooks, galleys, dummies, publisher correspondence, and fan mail--any materials related to the publication of a children's book. Today the Collection houses works by more than 1200 authors and illustrators. These original materials are supplemented by a book collection of more than 100,000 volumes of historical and contemporary children's literature dating from 1530. These include fables,fairy tales, folklore, alphabet books, nursery rhymes, textbooks, religious books, moral tales, fantasy, fiction, primers, and children's magazines."

This year the festival highlighted Beatrix Potter who just happens to be one of my personal favorites. I had a wonderful opportunity to see one of the largest collections of Beatrix Potter in the South. Hundreds of pieces of art and literature surronded the showcase life-sized prints of The Arrival and The Departure. Outside I toured Mr. McGregor's Garden which was filled with beautiful day lilies of all sizes and colors while sipping a cool glass of lemonade. I couldn't help but picture Peter Rabbit nibbling away on the vegetation.

All in all it was a great trip. I relaxed with friends, I learned new ways to put good books in the hands of children and teens, and I was reminded of why I love children's books and why I chose to be a young adult librarian.

Teen Read Week Is October 16 - 22

What is Teen Read Week? It is the initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Teen Read Week started in 1998. This year's theme is Picture It @ Your Library, which encourages teens to read graphic novels and other illustrated materials. During this week librarians are encouraging teens to seek out creative books, or imagine the world through literature, just for the fun of it. Libraries across the world celebrate Teen Read Week with a variety of events and programs aimed at encouraging teens to read for pleasure and to visit their libraries for free reading materials.

Why is it important to celebrate Teen Read week? There are many reasons! Teens have so many options for entertainment that it's important to remind them of the simple pleasures of falling into a good book and spend some time just reading for the pure pleasure of it; it's free, fun, and can be done anywhere. Research has shown that teens with strong reading skills have better test scores in school and are more likely to suceed in the workforce. Teen Read Week also provides opportunities for both the school and public libraries to get the local community involved and see the importance of teen services. It also allows teens to see the possibilities that exist within the library as well as in the pages of our books.

The teen librarian has been busy working on program ideas for the week long celebration. Check out the Armstrong Library Teen Zone Facebook page or the Teen page on our website for upcoming details about our plans for Teen Read Week!

Back to School Tools

It's that time again, summer is coming to a close and students are headed back to school. WalMart and KMart have been swamped with parents and kids buying school supplies. I walked past a cart filled with pencils, pens, folders, notebooks, and other school supplies. I heard the mother say that they were finally done shopping, and they should have all the tools they need to do well in school this year. I walked by, smiled, and began to think about tools for school and what other tools the kids will need to help them succeed.

The Armstrong Library believes in partnering with our school system, and we are always looking for better ways to provide educational resources to help both teachers and students  - whether they are in kindergarden or college.  Here are some of the tools we have in our library toolbox. All are available for free and from home on your computer, although you might have to come into the Library for a username and password.

MAGNOLIA is an extensive online research tool provided by the Mississippi State Legislature. It is filled with nearly one hundred different databases that can be searched for reliable information. The key point to remember is this is NOT information you could find with Google. The magazines, newspapers, television, and radio transcripts are all in pdf format giving them the look of the actual article. This tool is provided to us free from the state, and if we don't use it we could lose it. Cuts to library funding makes this tool even more valuable as we try to provide the best for our students.

Learning Express Library is an online learning site with over 800 online courses, tests, and ebooks to help you improve your reading, writing and math skills - for all ages. It can also help you with job search and workplace skills improvement, career certification and licensing exam preparation, college entrance and graduate school admissions exam preparation, GED exam preparation, and more. You'll get immediate scoring, complete answer explanations, and an individualized analysis of your results.

World Book Online is a premiere online reference source, with thousands of articles, state of the art multimedia, editor reviewed websites, periodical content, and more. Plus, there are more than 1.3 million pages of primary source documents – books, documents, selections – fully integrated with the encyclopedia content. Research and teaching tools include timelines, citation builder, and saved research. Thanks to the D A Biglane Foundation, we are able to provide this tool for another year.

New Resources in Print and Online.We purchased five new printed reference materials from Salem Press that also come with online access. Some subjects include, Encyclopedia of American Immigration, Great Events from History from Middle Ages to 1600, Psychology and Mental Health, and the Solar System.

Get more details on the Online Research Tools page of our website. While you're there, check out our In House Research Tools as well.

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"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!"

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" I remember singing this Alice Cooper song when I was a kid.

Yes, school was out for summer. No more homework, no more getting up early to catch the bus. All the way home I fantasized about playing outside all day with my friends - staying up late at night watching movies rather than doing homework.

Yes, my summer was planned, and I thought I would never get bored. However, that idea was short lived. By mid June, several of my friends were away at camp or on family vacation. I had nothing to do, and nowhere to go. All I had left was to stand on my head and spit wooden nickles, as my mother suggested.

That was until I went to my local public library and found out they were running a summer program for middle schoolers. The library was going to put on a puppet show, and we got to make the puppets and the stage. I signed up immediately and went to the first meeting and had a great time. I made some new friends. I learned all about puppets and made one of my own. We read Pinocchio as a group read.

The last day we had a big party, and we performed our puppet play for the smaller children and our parents. That summer made a difference in my life. Ms Patty was the library assistant, who was a college student working at the library for the summer. She was cool, and she was fun, so she made the library cool and fun, too. I was always a reader, but this experience made me a library user for life. That was back in the days of tie dye and bell bottom jeans, back in a time when we thought summer lasted forever.

Now this may be the 21st century, and kids today may have so much more to occupy their time, but I still hear kids telling their moms they are bored, that they have nothing to do. So my suggestion is to get them down to your Library and sign up for the free Summer Library Program. Let us help make your kids library users for life.

PreK - Grade 5

We are offering something for everybody in the family. One World, Many Stories is for children from preK through grade 5, You Are Here is for tweens and teens from grade 6 through 12, and Novel Destinations is our Adult program. We will have special guests and speakers to read stories and share interesting facts about different cultures. There will be games, crafts, and prizes. Most importantly, the kids will keep up their reading skills and make new friends while having fun learning.


So don't get stuck standing in the corner spitting wooden nickels all summer come see whats happening at your local library.

Children's Book Festival

Today I am heading to Hattiesburg to attend the much anticipated 44th Annual Fay B Kaigler Children's Book Festival. The Festival was founded in 1968 and is sponsored by the University of Southern Mississippi. What started out as a conference for those interested in writing, illustrating, and publishing of children's books grew to include talks by award winning authors and illustrators, as well as seminars for library science students and professional librarians from both schools and public libraries.

Although I have been working here at the Armstrong Library for nearly eight years, I was always under the impression the Book Festival was strictly for children's librarians and didn't think there would be much for a teen services librarian. However, I went last year, and boy, was I wrong! I had the most wonderful time meeting other librarians, listening to inspirational keynote speakers, and most importantly, meeting the actual authors and illustrators of BOTH children and teen books! And of course, there is nothing more fun than shopping for new books for the Library collection.

I waited in long lines for several hours just to get my books signed and a picture with the author. I was so excited to meet Richard Peck, who happened to be an author I loved from my days as a teenager, that afterwards I had to go back to my hotel room and rest.

Sharon Draper, an African American author whose books are always flying off my shelves, delivered an inspiring message about putting the right book into the hands of children and watching them bloom into lifetime readers.

My bags are packed, hotel reservations made, and I am armed with my schedule and comfy shoes ready to endure the long lines to meet this years Southern Medallion winner T A Barron, author of The Last Years of Merlin Trilogy. I'll give you a report when I get back. 

Librarians Take on Legislators!



Teen Librarian Marianne Raley &
Director Susan Cassagne

Last Wednesday a group of Mississippi librarians spent the day at the State Capitol building in Jackson to show our legislators the importance of public libraries to their communities and the need to keep our funding so as to continue to provide services that are much needed and used . 

 

Arriving at 8 am armed with banners, book marks, brochures and eye catching displays, we settled in the rotunda and waited for our local representatives to arrive. It was interesting to walk about and see what other libraries are doing in their community. There was a little of everything - from computer 101 classes to partnerships with local agencies such as WIN Job Service for those communities that are out in rural areas and cannot get to the center. One library provides a video phone for the hearing impaired so they can better communicate with distant family members.

Ms Magnolia

Ms Magnolia (AKA the Director of the First Regional Library System) strolled about the rotunda in a beautiful green gown and crown of magnolias while telling our state leaders about the great databases MAGNOLIA provides for our students, teachers and parents. The Mississippi Library Commission touted the Learn a Test online learning center.

 

Stress Books

The Armstrong Library displayed our newest pride and joy, the Teen Zone. We were a big hit as most legislators were pleased to see services being provided for our neighborhood youth. When trying to get a lawmaker to remember an organization they usually receive a pencil or pen with the name and or logo on it. Well, we went one step further and passed out a stress ball shaped like books with the Teen Zone and website imprinted on them. I don't doubt a few of those stress books were flying across the tables during committee meetings.



Capitol Rotunda



By the way, if you have not seen the State Capital building before, I suggest you do. It was my first time visiting and I was so impressed with the achitecture, woodwork, marble flooring, and beautiful stained glass windows. It was inspiring to be in the same place were laws are created or defeated.

Natchez Teens Have a New Hangout!

Calling all Natchez Teens ages 13 to 18.

Do we have a place for you!

The new Teen Zone is awesome. We want to provide a really fun, safe place for teens to hang out, meet new friends, and learn new things - while being around positive role models who want them to succeed.

The new room will be painted in bright, eye catching colors. We have soft, comfortable chairs, a new colorful carpet, stackable chairs for events, and stools for quiet conversation or for reading your favorite books. A 46 inch tv, a Wii console with games, a popcorn machine, and a Kareoke machine will be used for special programming throughout the year. A large storage locker is filled with board games and craft supplies that can be accessed anytime by asking a librarian for assistance. Check out the new teen magazines: Teen Vogue, GamePro, Spin, Mad Magazine, something for everyone! There will also be two new computers with internet access that will be exclusively for the teens. NO ADULTS ALLOWED!!

Come check it out! Join us Thursday, October 28 at 3:30 pm for our Open House. Bring your parents, invite your teachers and school librarians -  this may be their one and only chance to step into the Teen Zone and see what the Armstrong Library has to offer. And be sure to bring all your friends.

The Teen Zone was made possible by funding under the Federal Library Services & Technology Act administered by the Mississippi Library Commission. Matching funds were provided by the Friends of the Library. At a time when libraries are struggling with cuts in funding, it would seem we always find a way to provide services to the public.

Click to see photo gallery of Teen Room Renovations.

We Feel Like We Won the Lottery

WOW! What a week! We found out that we have been awarded FIVE grants totaling $156,000. We are always applying for grants since we operate on a very tight budget, especially during these hard economic times. This week, we really lucked out.

HVAC Repairs - $136,000. If you use the Library, you know all the problems we have had with our antiquated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). We knew there was federal stimulus money available for energy conservation, administered through the Mississippi Development Authority. The City of Natchez owns our building, but it could not apply for this particular grant because they had already applied (and received) one. Fortunately, Adams County agreed to apply for the grant on our behalf. We haven't even been officially notified yet, so we don’t know when the work will begin or how long it will take, but we will keep you updated. We are just thrilled to know we will soon be able to offer a comfortable environment to our patrons - not to mention our staff, computers, and books. (See the article in the Natchez Democrat.)

New Teen Room - $11,000. We are soon going to have the best Teen Room imaginable that may become the most popular place in town for local teenagers. Since more and more reference materials are becoming available online, we decided that we no longer need a room dedicated to reference materials. So that room will be transformed into the Teen Room, with new paint and cool furnishings. Books and other materials appropriate to teenagers will be shelved there, of course. There will also a TV that can be used to play WII games or watch movies, a computer, a craft area, and other enticements. For teens in our community, the Library will soon be equal to Fun! We hope for a grand opening in October.

Breaking News - $3,000  Right now the library subscribes to several print newspapers. Some popular out of town newspapers are either unavailable or arrive late. Most newspapers are also available online in a format that looks just like a regular newspaper. We are purchasing two special touch screen computers for the Dr Clifford Tillman Memorial Reading Room that will be for newspapers only. It may take some getting used to, but staff will be available to help and there are added benefits, such as accessing older issues and searching for certain topics. We will continue to subscribe to all print newspapers except the New York Times, which arrives a week late by mail and is costly. We will also be able to provide the Baton Rouge Advocate online, which was not available for delivery in our area.

New DVDs - $3,000  Video cassettes are outmoded now, so we have started ordering movies on DVD/Blue Ray. But it is expensive to build up a collection, and this grant will help us to get a jump start.

Time and Print Management Software - $3,000 We installed this software in the Armstrong Library, and it allows us to efficiently manage use and printing on our public computers. This grant will allow us to also provide this software to our branch libraries in Wilkinson County.

The last four grants are funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and administered by the Mississippi Library Commission.

More to Come  We are currently seeking proposals to complete the exterior repairs and painting our building so desperately needs. So soon your Library will look pretty again!

Teen Summer Library Program

This year the Teen Summer Library program theme is Make Waves @ Your Library. This summer we are doing more than making waves and reading books. During the month of June teens who sign up for the program will have an opportunity to particpate in the designing of the new Teen Zone space. We will be meeting every Wednesday from June 9-30 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. We will discuss paint colors, furniture choices, wii games , board games, books, and magazines. If you're a local teen in grades 7-12, you're invited to sign up and participate, and if you bring a friend you get an extra chance for the raffle.

If you're not into room design, have no fear. We will still be doing crafts, playing games, discussing the latest books, and raffling off prizes. On June 16, we will have a special guest from the County Extension Service to talk about healthy eating through hands on activities and of course, there will be FOOD!

So if this sounds like fun and you haven't signed up yet, call the library for more information.

New Teen Room

It’s that time of year again – registration for the Summer Library Program is underway. The theme for this year’s program for children is Make a Splash – Read!

The Teen theme is Make Waves @ Your Library.




We are looking for a few good surfers to ride a really BIG wave – our new Teen Room! We have written a grant, which if funded, will furnish our room with all kinds of stuff: a Wii, games, a big-screen TV, comfy furniture, craft supplies, storage …. (the list goes on!). We hope to know by the end of this month if our grant (a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered through the Mississippi Library Commission) request is approved.

If our grant is funded, we'll need your help to design the new Teen room and to develop a new Teen program to go with it. We want this room to be a hangout for the teens of our community – for them to have a safe place to come, have fun, interact with other teens, study, and read – to find out that the Library is much more than a place to come when they have a school project to research or complete. We want this room to reflect the needs and wishes of our teens. What better way than to just ask? We have some ideas, but we want to know what the teens and the community think. Please email our Teen Librarian or call her at 601.445.8862 and let her know your ideas.

Check out the Teen section of our website for more information on the Teen Room and the Teen Summer Library Program.

Banned Books

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections.

The titles in bold represent just a few of the hundreds of banned or challenged books.
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (taken off the banned/challanged list)

For more information on why these books were challenged, visit http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks/index.cfm


What's the difference between a challenge and a banning?
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Why are books challenged?
Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:
1. the material was considered to be "sexually explicit"
2. the material contained "offensive language"
3. the materials was "unsuited to any age group"


While these are certainly issues to consider, it is also important to remember an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (ALA's basic policy concerning access to information) states that, “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.”


The above quote is really what it's all about from this librarian's perspective. I did my best as a mother to be involved in what my children were reading but I can't recall ever censoring what they read. I do remember reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" together as a family and having some lively conversations at the dinner table about race and individual rights. As the Teen Librarian, I try to provide a balanced collection of books, including classics and contemporary fiction, both secular and christian, and it's my hope parents take the time to get involved in their childen's reading habits.

Back to School

Your library can help students get started on the right foot this school year. Your library has many resources, both print and electronic, to help students brush up on critical skills, conduct useful research, and develop outstanding creative projects projects.

For example, Contemporary Black Biography and Novels for Students are comprehensive reference materials that are ideal for high school and college students of all ages, and they're available in the Reference Room in your Library - along with other up to date resources. The Teen Zone nonfiction section of your Library also has many items useful to students, such as science experiments; decade books; biographies of musicians, actors, and sports figures; several books on peer pressure; and preparing for college and ACT/SAT prep manuals.

Many books listed on the local school reading lists and AR books are also available at your Library.

Working on Mississippi history projects? The Natchez Democrat on microfilm going back to 1800 is available, so students can find out what was going on in town during the time period they are studying.

In addition to outstanding collections, your Library offers many other conveniences for students. Comfortable study areas are scattered throughout your Library. Public computer areas feature Internet and Microsoft Office, with both color and black & white printers. Wireless Internet access is available throughout the building, public copiers are provided on each floor, and fax services are available at the circulation desk.

As much as we enjoy seeing you in your Library, students don’t have to visit the building to use many of our resources. Check out our research sources on the MAGNOLIA Database page of our website. We've got a great collection of books, periodicals, and more that you can access online from work, home, or school. Armed with your Library card and our website, you can practice for the GED, TOEFL, Nursing and Firefighter exams, and many other tests in the LearningExpress Library. LearningExpress Library not only provides online preparation materials for an extensive array of standardized tests, elementary through adult levels, but also offers skills improvement courses in math, reading and writing for elementary, middle school and high school.

Also available on our web site are customized subject guides created by our librarians, which feature recommended web sites, related databases, materials from our collection and local resources.

Teens Express Themselves @ the Library

For the past six weeks teens have been coming to the library for the summer reading program and learning about all the neat ways they can express themselves. They used the Graffiti Wall in the downstairs foyer to express themselves through art and poetry, even the general public got into it and added their own thoughts. We toured the ArtNatchez Gallery, completed a scavenger hunt involving the various works at the gallery and later had a quick Manga (Japanese cartooning) lesson from one of our own local artist, Patricia Knight. The kids had a great time and loved spending time with Ms Knight.


Teens expressed themselves through crafts. They created their own bookmarks by melting crayon shavings on cardstock. They also made magnet marbles and painted suncatchers. They also learned how to create their own computer game with the help of our summer employee, Leonard Lucas.


The last day party consisted of pizza and cold drinks while challenging each other to games of baseball, tennis, and bowling on the Wii. Some of the girls got creative with Karaoke and music CDs.


All in all it was a great six weeks and the best part was the sixteen member group read 305 books total. Congratulations to them, and lets meet again next summer!


Be on the look out for information about Teen Read Week coming in October.