My day started at 7am. I didn't manage to get enough time on Friday to finish off all the background work on the bulletin boards so I got in early to try to get everything up before the kids came in. Nothing went right. The Hazard tape I used as the boarders on the bulletin boards was all pealing off and none of the documents that I had typed up on the weekend would open in Word 2010. I was like a woman possessed, running around trying to get it all fixed and done before I had to head off to the Briefing at 8.30. I managed to get one board done and the posters on the front doors before I had to abandon it all for the Briefing.
Back from Briefing, Abigail and I got all the book cover posters up on the boards with the blurbs about why they were banned, when and by whom. They look really good and I'm really pleased with how they all turned out.
On Friday Jean spent all day covering the banned books with brown paper. I got the idea from a photo I saw of another Library that was promoting BBW. We wrote things on the brown paper covers like, "I Promote Sexual Promiscuity" and "I Criticize the Catholic Church". We had lots of kids looking at them, especially the boys who seemed particularly interested in the one that said, "I Contain Scenes of Lesbianism". They were giggling like school girls - it was hilarious!
Today really was manic but I feel good about what I have accomplished. On Thursday, Waterstone's will be running a book stall in the Library (I managed to wanggle a 10% discount for the students!) and I've created two competitions (one for staff and one for students). The first prize is £10 of National Book Tokens.
I've had lots of great comments from students and teachers about the displays and generally what we are trying to promote. I think it's really important to remind people that we can't take our freedoms for granted. I really hope that by doing this I can promote Banned Books Week and get more UK schools involved. It's important that we spread the word so that people know that things like this still happen.
If you want to find out more about Banned Books Week, check out the ALA's website:
Anyway, off to have a nice cup of tea and wind down before more mayhem tomorrow!
Love the display - quite an impact!
ReplyDeleteFantastic display. Well done!
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