2010 Book Challenges

The ALA released the list of the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2010:


"Each title is followed by the reasons given for challenging the book:
1. "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson            
         Reasons: Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
        Reasons: Offensive language, Racism, Sex Education, Sexually Explicit,
        Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
3. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
        Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit
4. "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
        Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit
5. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
         Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
6. "Lush" by Natasha Friend
         Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit,
         Unsuited to Age Group
7. "What My Mother Doesn’t Know" by Sonya Sones
          Reasons: Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
8. "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
         Reasons: Drugs, Inaccurate, Offensive Language, Political Viewpoint,
         Religious Viewpoint
9. "Revolutionary Voices" edited by Amy Sonnie
         Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit
10. "Twilight" by  Stephenie Meyer
          Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Violence

Quote: Super Librarian

"He's like Super Librarian, y'know?  Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon."    
(Xander Harris in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer)

Great site for public domain photographs

Ken Thomas has made his photographs available to everyone (public domain).  In addition to great wildlife shots, he also has beautiful panoramic photographs, scenery and beautiful landscapes.

ebook sources

Lately I've been seeing more and more ebook sources (free and not free).  Below are a few:

         "The largest independent eBook store globally, BooksOnBoard - headquartered in Austin, Texas - opened in 2006 and offers eBooks and audio books in six different formats, including the industry standard Adobe ePUB format, available from all the major publishers and most of the smaller ones. With 7 day a week support, BooksOnBoard never closes for its customers, having thousands of unsolicited testimonials from happy support customers...."       $$$

 The World's classic literature at your fingertips. Over 1,000,000 free ebook titles available.

"LendInk is a free service that allows you to connect with other book lovers, loan your lendable eBooks in seconds and find new books to borrow."

When was the first school library?

Have you ever wondered when the first school library was opened?  American Libraries does not have a specific date, but assumes school libraries started with the Bible, chapbook and Bay Psalm Book on the corner of the teacher's [his !] desk.  


"... in 1740 Benjamin Franklin recommended school libraries as a key element in the ideal academy, and the Penn Charter School in Philadelphia designating a specially designed room as the library in 1744."


And "... In 1900, the first professionally trained school librarian, Mary Kingsbury, was appointed to manage the Erasmus High School library in Brooklyn. The second was Mary E. Hall, appointed in 1903 by the Girls’ High School in Brooklyn.  Hall went on to collaborate on the Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Sizes (ALA, 1920) with C. C. Certain, producing the first standards for school libraries, and she later was the the first chairperson of the School Libraries Section, the precursor to today's American Association of School Librarians (AASL)."

Book sculptures

I wonder how many hours were put into making these Amazing Book Sculptures.

15 Best websites to find and download ebooks

15 Best Websites to Find and Download ebooks   (many of these websites are technology related).