Kicking Off Banned Books Week At Van Meter!

"Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; 

and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech." 

~Benjamin Franklin

This week is Banned Books Week....a week to celebrate the freedom to read.  Banned Books Week has been celebrated since 1982.  There has been over 11,000 books challenged since that year. 

At Van Meter, we are celebrating Banned Books Week and our freedom to read.  

Diana created displays in the elementary and secondary libraries with several books from the "Frequently Challenged Books of the 21st Century" list from the ALA website that we have in our libraries. We also have a bulletin board up as the students and teachers walk into the library.  These displays have really got them thinking about all of the titles that have been banned in different places.  

And throughout this week and the weeks to come, we will be learning about censorship, challenging and banning books, and of course....our freedoms.  

Today one of our new language arts teachers, Jessica Rabe, introduced a very fun project to her students.  Her students were looking at picture books from our elementary collection that have been challenged.

You can find the Challenged Children's Books Google Doc here, which Jessica was happy to share.

As Jessica and her students read the picture books that she brought into their classroom, I had fun walking around and listening to their conversations.  

I look forward to going back on Thursday and hearing what they found about each of the challenged picture books.  

For more information about Banned Books Week, you can go to these two websites....

Banned Books Week website 

and Banned Books Week from ALA.  There are so many wonderful resources, links, and ideas for libraries, teachers, students, and communities.  

Enjoy celebrating Banned Books Week and please share what you are doing with your library and school too.