Kid keeping a lending library of banned books in her locker

[rcrush]

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/24/kid-keeping-a-lendin.html

Javier sez, "A teenager asks Yahoo! Questions whether maintaining a lending library in his school locker is illegal (as opposed of merely in contravention of school regulations). A school friend asked to borrow off him The Catcher in the Rye, one of the books in the banned list, and one thing led to another..."
This happened a lot and my locker got to overflowing with the banned books, so I decided to put the unoccupied locker next to me to a good use. I now have 62 books in that locker, about half of what was on the list. I took care only to bring the books with literary quality. Some of these books are:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
His Dark Materials trilogy
Sabriel
The Canterbury Tales
Candide
The Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost
The Godfather
Mort
Interview with the Vampire
The Hunger Games
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Animal Farm
The Witches
Shade's Children
The Evolution of Man
the Holy Qu'ran
... and lots more.

Anyway, I now operate a little mini-library that no one has access to but myself. Practically a real library, because I keep an inventory log and give people due dates and everything. I would be in so much trouble if I got caught, but I think it's the right thing to do because before I started, almost no kid at school but myself took an active interest in reading! Now not only are all the kids reading the banned books, but go out of their way to read anything they can get their hands on. So I'm doing a good thing, right? Oh, and since you're probably wondering "Why can't you just go to a local library and check out the books?" most of the kids are too chicken or their parents won't let them but the books. I think that people should have open minds. Most of the books were banned because they contained information that opposed Catholicism. I limit my 'library' to only the sophmores, juniors and seniors just in case so you can't say I'm exposing young people to materiel they're not mature enough for. But is what I'm doing wrong because parents and teachers don't know about it and might not like it, or is it a good thing because I am starting appreciation of the classics and truly good novels (Not just fad novels like Twilight) in my generation?
Give that kid a medal and a full-ride scholarship to the best library school in the country, please!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoCt3NHGwM8BxD2H1669H3_ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090305151758AA7dWwd

They banned Dante and Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy?!!

[Arugula Latte]

1. What a cool kid. nt

[Raineyb]

2. They banned Animal Farm?

What the fuck is wrong with that school?

[TankLV]

25. My first reaction is to the "Connecticut Yankee..." I mean, how innocuous can that get?!!!

[Tuvok Obama]

30. It strikes me that the net effect is that kids want to rebel by reading these books

So ... and I never thought I'd be saying this ... maybe schools should "ban" more books.

I'm not completely serious, but still, the thought that kids are rebelling by reading books like Animal Farm is an attractive concept.

[Recursion]

49. There are three ways to get something done.

1. Do it yourself
2. Pay someone to do it
3. Forbid a teenager from doing it

[Tuvok Obama]

54. Back in 2000, my 13-year old daughter abruptly stopped liking Eminem...

as soon as I started cranking his latest CD full volume in the car. Eminem suddenly became yesterday's news.

:evilgrin:

[Doremus]

31. We read that in English class in the 7th grade ... back in the stone age of 1968. n/t

[Seldona]

65. I was shocked as well.

I am going to get a copy so my kids can read it, although I do have the original animated film on DVD. That should be required reading!

[LeftHander]

72. Rq'd Reading when I was in High School.....omg....nt

[chatnoir]

77. They banned Animal Farm?!

:wtf:

That was required reading when we were in grammar school.

Where in the world is this sorry-arse school?

[BolivarianHero]

85. Umm...

I have an answer for you, but it only makes sense if you accept the assumption that most fundie-tards have heard of Leon Trotsky.

[rockymountaindem]

3. Well there's a good man

Good for him and for his "patrons". I hope the book-banners realize that putting books on a "bad-for-you" list only makes people want them more.

[RC]

34. Ahhh... This is a girl, not a him.

[rockymountaindem]

38. So I see

I thought the person in question was the Javier quoted in the article. My mistake.

[lame54]

4. Animal Farm? - everyone teenager should read that one

[villager]

5. Now *that's* a young patriot!

Doctorow's right -- give her a scholarship!

[Richard D]

6. A few more

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Slaughterhouse-5
Lord of the Flies
Bridge to Terabithia
Catch-22
East of Eden
The Brothers Grimm Unabridged Fairytales.


I simply can't believe that these books are banned and that the kid would get in trouble for having these. What country is this again?

[drm604]

7. Hitchhikers stood out to me also.

WTF is the objection to Douglas Adams? Maybe the bit about how the existence of babel fish disprove the existence of God? That's the only thing I can think of off the top of my head, but it's a silly piece of sophistry involving a fictional creature so I can't quite see the objection.

Could it be the whole meaning of life business (42, etc.)? Are there really people who feel that their religion is threatened by this nonsense?

(Note that when I use terms like "silly sophistry" and "nonsense" that's not a put down of Adams. I'm a big fan.)

[rcrush]

10. People who feel that threatened when their religion is questioned

Must not have that much faith in their religion in my opinion.

[gypsy11]

75. I was just thinking the same thing n/t

[drmeow]

80. It might be the very beginning

where he talks about how humans worship money and a man was put to death for saying we should all be nice to each other (the preface or intro or whatever he called it) - I could see religious idiots viewing that disrespectful to the Bible.

[Occulus]

8. The Canterbury Tales??

Paradise Fucking Lost???!??!?11

Madness. Absolute madness.

[rcrush]

12. Maybe they banned it cause it was in Middle English and they didnt understand it

They thought maybe it was some terrorist speak and got scurred!

[WeDidIt]

24. Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-

[rcrush]

51. What is that? Mexican?

Lurn Merican!

[WeDidIt]

70. Dude, that's English

Seriously, it's English.

[chill_wind]

64. I always loved that melodic verse, absolutely lovely recited out loud.

Thanks for posting it-- takes me waaay back to my senior year of high school honors English. At my advancing age I could only remember the first few lines of it.

[WeDidIt]

69. Google is your friend!

:D

First thing I thought was, "I want to read the original Middle English version again".

So I googled it.

:D

[Badgerman]

15. 'Canterbury Tales' dark ages soft porn...loved 'em! heh

[knitter4democracy]

58. Especially the Wife of Bath.

I've always loved her. Her story's funnier than hell, too.

[WeDidIt]

23. Canterbury Tales was REQUIRED in my Sophomore English class

And Paradise Lost was required in my Senior English class.

Un-fucking-believable.

[TankLV]

26. Me too - almost ALL those on the banned list were required reading for us...

[ZombieHorde]

56. OK, now I get it.

The only way to get kids to read those books was by banning them.

[4_TN_TITANS]

78. Chaucer was a dirty old man....

If you read the Canterbury tales in grade school, you didn't read the complete work, or have it fully explained. It's got plenty of adultery, homosexuality, etc.

[knitter4democracy]

89. There's even a porn flick of a couple of the stories.

Interestingly, it's not all that far off from the original . . .

[Missy Vixen]

9. If I knew where to reach her, I'd send a copy of The Handmaid's Tale

After all, it's another of my (typically banned) favorites.

[Badgerman]

11. A Mark Twain book is banned! What town is this?

I.m serious, What town and state is this school. When MArk Twains' Connecticut Yankee is banned it is waaaay past time to go nuclear on the freaks!

[Badgerman]

14. Okay, its a private school...original article calls it that, but no name, or location.

[MiniMe]

21. My guess is that it is a Catholic school

Since the article includes: Most of the books were banned because they contained information that opposed Catholicism

[Posteritatis]

22. His stuff gets banned all the time

People see a Naughty Word or racist term in them, equate the existence of the terms with advocacy of the ideas behind them, and scream for them to be banned.

Just part of that whole "can't be exposed to anything I disagree with" mindset.

[Badgerman]

27. Okay, that does it, I resign from the species!!!! banning Mark goes to far.

:roflmao:

[WolverineDG]

37. Usually they ban Huckleberry Finn nt

[Cleita]

13. Good kid.

My best friend did something similar. Her parents had a library that included a lot of banned literature and she would lend the banned books to the rest of us to read. We especially liked doing it during retreats when we would check out one of the religious books available to us and we would put the jacket on one of the banned books and that's what we would read. I was especially fond of the writings of Alexandre Dumas.

[HillbillyBob]

16. Good for the brave youngster.

Education reading literature as an act of subversion and sedition.
Kind of make you wonder about the free speech clause in the US Constitution.
I read a lot of what I was not supposed to either and had my share of trouble, not bad just warnings about 'filling my head with high falutin garbage'.

[dmallind]

17. That's a weird list

Paradise Lost? Mort? Hitchhiker's? I'm stumped at what could be the unifying cause of censorship here. Paradise Lost was written by one of the most dourly Puritan literary geniuses (not a common combination I'll grant) in history. Satan may be the "hero" but only in the sense of a literary framework that makes him the protagonist. It's hardly a book that is irreligious or antagonistic to Xianity, which I assume is the problem with things like the Qu'ran and Hitchhiker's Guide (yet another incongruous pairing!).

[davsand]

18. Certain translations of The Bible have even been banned along with Harry Potter.

That would be due to the efforts of specific religious views. Where's Waldo has been pulled on occasion because on some pages "...there are dirty things..." Sendack's In the Night Kitchen has been targeted due to the cartoon of the kid's bare butt, and The Outsiders got pulled because the kids came from non-traditional homes.

Batshit nuts is not limited to just one flavor and it is a big mistake to think it is. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer have also been challenged because of the "negative stereotypes of African Americans" they contain.

That girl with the lending library is doing exactly what the censors should fear the most--she is creating a renewed interest in the works due to the fact that they were challenged. The American Library Association and the American Bookseller's Association both view censorship with great disdain, and if they knew about this kid I'm betting SOMEBODY could come up with a scholarship for that kid to go to college.


Laura

[Ocracoker16]

19. banning books is stupid

I remember when I was in highschool and the librarian made a big display of books banned by other schools for Banned Books Week. Many of the books they ban are classics and books that should be read in school. It sounds like in this case books are banned for being inconsistent With Catholic teachings. If Catholicism is so compelling then why do they need to hide these books away? Kids are smart enough to understand why the school is censoring certain books. They will want to read them to find out about other perspectives that exist and they will make up their own minds.

[leeroysphitz]

20. Jesus. Who runs this school? John Lithgow from Footloose? n/t

[AwakeAtLast]

50. HaHaHa!!!

:D

[RufusTFirefly]

28. So inspiring!

Rock on!

:patriot:


Alas, though, this is way too reminiscent of samizdat, the practice of Russian people during the era of the Soviet Union who passed copies of censored manuscripts among friends.

[Fumesucker]

39. Samizdat..

Exactly, that was my first thought also.

[ZombieHorde]

29. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?! Animal Farm?! WTF?

[ColbertWatcher]

32. Has snopes commented on this yet? n/t

[rosesaylavee]

33. I went to the site and read it thru

and somehow I don't believe this. Former Catholic here and was always encouraged to read by my teachers and parents alike any type of literature. This is not a Catholic thing - perhaps the principal at that school but not a teacher. And if it were the principal, he/she would have to have the other English teachers and the librarians on board with this as well. Doesn't look like there is much else available for legitimate reading in the Eng Lit classes.

I think this is a fake.

[keroro gunsou]

35. i went to catholic school too

and i was encouraged to read a lot, mostly because it shut me up and kept me out of trouble... something my AP english teacher would regret when she gave us the summer reading list at the end of junior year...

that poor woman almost had a coronary on the first day of class when i told her i read the entire list and asked what she wanted to know about each book on the list. we were supposed to read at least 4 of the 40 books on the list, i read them all, and to her shock and horror, i was able to recall almost everything about the books.

[rosesaylavee]

40. Haha - yeah - that kind of support is what I remember

of my Catholic education. One of the reasons my parents sent me thru Catholic school. This just doesn't seem right to me. Tho the Roman Catholic faith seems to have radicalized in recent years - this just doesn't seem possible that all the teachers, parents and higher ups in the diocese would agree to this as it would definitely effect their prep school ratings.

[keroro gunsou]

46. my school

was more concerned with their image and the money. my hs had the single biggest drug problem in the county, they had to work hard to keep that shit quiet. when i went their... many moons ago, pot and beer were the rage. now, according to my former ap history teacher, it's heroin, and god forbid meth is creeping in.

i was a little hell-raiser, i thought for myself. something most of my teachers found to be VERY annoying. couple that with a healthy bs-detector and a mouth, i was a religion teacher's worst nightmare.

thankfully, there was only one radical nutcase religion teacher, he quit at the end of the year after debating me all semester about everything under the sun.

oh well, i still remember mrs. brown, the ap english teacher, and her freaking out when she read off the summer book list and me telling her i read it.

"which books?"

"yes."

best.teacher.ever.

[Motown_Johnny]

53. In my catholic school, I was Required to read "Animal Farm" and write a book report

I think it was 7th grade, but it was so long ago I can't swear to that

[knitter4democracy]

60. You would've been my favorite student.

Not that I miss teaching AP English, but what I would've given for a student who actually read . . .

[keroro gunsou]

74. what scared her the most

was how i was able to recall nearly every single detail about the books i read. unfortunately it didn't extend to subtle nuances in some cases, like with dante's divine comedy, but i was smart enough to catch on.

my only complaint about the class was the other 19 type-a hyper-competitive assholes in the class. to this day i remember some of their supposed snark about my being in the class, mostly about how i'd bring the class grading down because they didn't think i was smart enough, coming from a "lower" track. at my school there was a pre-ap english class, which i didn't take, due to my guidence councilor relying WAY too much on my entrance exam scores. i had been sick that day so my scores were not indicative of how smart of a student i was.\

after smoking those spoiled brats on the first test, they quietly learned to have a nice big glass of STFU.

[knitter4democracy]

88. See, that's why I hated teaching AP.

I hated those guys. Now, I did like it when I was at the girls school (enough not to want to run screaming from the school at the end of the day, at least), but when I was at the co-ed school, it was all I could do to make myself deal with them every frackin' day.

Entitled snots who didn't actually know how to read or think critically and who bragged about not actually reading the books. *shudder* Awful, awful year. I only had a few bright spots, wonderful students who got me through the day.

I did have one student who should've been in AP. His test scores said it, and I saw it everyday in my regular English 4 class. He refused to take it because of the other students and because of racial crap. Sadly, I agreed with him, so I did my best to ask more of him and make him work a bit harder and up to his potential.

[keroro gunsou]

91. you sound like my teacher

when i wasn't giving her headaches "living up to my potential," she was smacking down those students that thought i didn't belong in the class, and treated me as such.

oddly enough, they didn't give me the same amount of crap in AP history, probably because they knew the teacher wouldn't put up with that crap. he hated the honors students exactly for the same reason you did, the self-important sense of entitlement.

lucky for me it was an election year (1988), so we spent the first quarter covering it and the whole election process. that was my first experience being the token liberal in class.

we even had mock presidential debates, which we had to use the same election issues, but we could spell them out however we liked. i still remember zinging the guy who took bush's platform when he said he was running on the basis of his experience. i said something to the effect "all this pomp and circumstance... and so little to show for it."

predictably enough, it sailed right over his head. sometimes the best are brightest are really dim bulbs.

[knitter4democracy]

59. Former Catholic high school English teacher here.

It depends on who runs the school. I taught at Ursuline schools, and the Ursulines are pretty liberal. Heck, I'd probably get fired from that school. I taught Brave New World, part of Dante's Inferno, Merchant of Venice, and more than that--I explained the dirty jokes in Shakespeare's plays. I never got in trouble for any of that.

That said, Opus Dei was trying to take over one of the schools where I taught, and the Sisters were doing everything they could to hold fast against them. They'd be the types to ban books.

[rosesaylavee]

83. But in looking at that list, what is left to teach?

Opus Dei is a pretty nutty group and it wouldn't surprise me if they were banning books. But such a long list and the student doesn't mention any other opposition to this ridiculousness. What about the Eng Lit teachers and librarians? Surely someone at some level would be opposing this. It can't all be one heroic kid against a solid block of insane adults. I just don't buy it.

[knitter4democracy]

87. It's hard to fight in the Catholic schools.

Most schools are non-union, so you have no rights as a teacher. You are purely a contract worker, and they can let you go at any time with almost no notice. I was threatened with that a couple of times (for giving not enough homework and then for giving too much homework--true).

Where did the student get the list? ;)

[rosesaylavee]

90. Don't know where the list came from...

I guess when I went to Catholic schools, there were nuns and they couldn't be fired. And they were not shy about expressing their opinions either. My Eng Lit teacher who is celebrating his 40 something year there - would have raised a stink that would have shaken the whole town. So I guess I was lucky to be exposed to a lot of strong stubborn people early on.

Thank you for your years of teaching in a less than lucrative position. I am hopeful that your students thanked you too! The lit teacher above was one of my favorite teachers overall and was a great influence on my world view. A very challenging person but I am grateful he pushed us now.

Edit: for spelling - yeesh, wouldn't he be proud! :P

[stillrockin]

71. I went to Catholic school through 8th grade.

Catcher in the Rye was banned. I went to 9th grade on base at Ft. Leavenworth, KS and one of the first books my English teacher assigned was the aforementioned Salinger book.

[WolverineDG]

36. The Canterbury Tales on the banned list?

:wtf:

dg

[anigbrowl]

41. I suspect a hoax

There is no book called 'the evolution of man'. Darwin's classic (or strictly speaking, one among several) is called 'The descent of man'.

[Posteritatis]

44. At least use Google before you say something that ridiculous

There's several books with that title.

[anigbrowl]

48. I did...

And unlike you, I checked to see what they were and also looked them up on Amazon. The only exact match in print for 'the evolution man' is 'the evolution of man disproved in 50 arguments', a creationist polemic. The books mentioned on Google are all long out of print and of no academic or historical significance.

[Occulus]

76. You didn't look very hard. See, you have to look further than page one of the results.

Otherwise, you end up looking like the Democratic Party's logo.

"The Evolution Of Man V1 by Ernst Haeckel (Paperback - Jun 17, 2004)"

"Evolution of Man (Hardcover) by David Pilbeam (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man (Hardcover) by Elliot G. Smith (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man (Unknown Binding) by Gabriel Ward Lasker (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man (Hardcover) by Richard Swall, et. al. Lull (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man (Hardcover) by Wilkelm Bolsche (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man. A Series of Lectures Delivered before the Yale Chapter of the Sigma Xi during the Academic Year 1921-1922. (Hardcover) by Richard S. et al Lull (Author)"

"Evolution of Man (IMPORT) (Hardcover) by Bernard Ryan (Author)"

"The Evolution of Man (Hardcover) by Sol Tax (Author)"

"THE EVOLUTION OF MAN (Hardcover) by G H R von Koenigswald (Author)"

"THE EVOLUTION OF MAN: BEING THE LOWELL LECTURES. (Hardcover) by William (edited by). Templeton (Author)"

"And unlike you, I checked to see"

Suuure you did. By the way- these are all Amazon links.

[anigbrowl]

81. And did you look at how many of those are in print?

Those are the ones I was talking about. I still think it's a hoax.

[panzerfaust]

66. I hope that it is true

...but, like you, I am worried about the 'typeface'

Certainly it is true that the Holy Roman Apostolic Church DOES ban books.

Galileo's work was not removed from the Mother Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum until the 1800's.

The trick with Index was that if you read any book on the list, your immortal soul went directly and irretrievably to Hell (no stopping in Purgatory).

Now there is evidence that in the TWO CENTURIES elapsing between Galileo's trail (and his book making the HRC Hit LIst) and the removal of his work from Index many Catholics had read they book. When it was removed from Index, did these 'eternally Damned' souls then instantly ascend to heaven - or did they first stop in Purgatory (which was in full operation then)? If they did stop in Purgatory, what happened when Purgatory was shut down a few years ago? Or, was it empty then??

Actually since the HRC now says that Purgatory never existed, are they going to return all the coin they raked in to pray for souls in Purgatory???

Oh, and Index Librorum Prohibitorum was supposedly abandoned in the 1960's, leaving the individual Dioceses without central direction for which books to ban.

Such are the weighty questions raised by religion.

[Chulanowa]

82. Pretty sure Purgatory is still there

It's Limbo that got abolished.

I hope the Pope passed that memo up to his manager!

[JitterbugPerfume]

42. when I was a kid

we loved the banned book list . A guy names George and I read Tobacco Road in first year Latin class.

Maybe that is why I remember very little Latin:shrug: but a lot about a boy named George?

[bemildred]

43. Reading is good. nt

[Motown_Johnny]

45. Whoever banned these books needs to be investigated.

and whoever is lending them out needs to be rewarded


My God, ANIMAL FARM!?!?!?!


Way back in the dark ages when I was in Catholic school, I was REQUIRED to read Animal Farm and write a book report on in. I think I was in 7th grade at the time but I can't swear to that.

The idea of anyone banning it is beyond me.

[ZombieHorde]

57. Whoever banned those books should be awarded.

How else would you get kids to read them?

[armyowalgreens]

47. What fucking school is this?

[Adsos Letter]

52. Paradise Lost?! Good Lord...

and to think Milton's Areopagitica was as influential as it was in making the case for a free press, and against censorship.

The irony is unbelieveable.

[rosesaylavee]

55. I just don't buy this story.

Because this list is pretty extensive. How is she fitting ALL those books in the locker and what about the Eng Lit staff, the librarians, concerned parents in town, etc. And, what ARE they reading in Eng Lit if not these titles?

Submitted it to Snopes and will report back if I hear anything.

[armyowalgreens]

61. Yeah many of those books are not banned at my school and I live in conservative USA

This story sounds like bullshit to me.

[DireStrike]

62. Canterbury tales? Candide?!

Thank you, threatened "private" (ahem, religious) organizations for sowing the seeds of your own destruction.

[Blue_Tires]

63. wow...i went to a pretty conservative catholic HS

and even I had read Dante and Animal Farm by the 10th grade...

[Echo In Light]

73. In junior high Catholic school I read Kesey's One Flew Over The cuckoo's Nest

My first comprehensive "book report."

[Wednesdays]

67. K&R

:kick:

[carlyhippy]

68. in any other public school the lending library would consist of Oui, Club, and Hustler

kudos to this kid for being so cool!

[DemBones DemBones]

79. I smell a hoax.

[EndersDame]

84. I rember my copy of Candide being taken away for being to secular

hell of a book and made me enjoy that much more

[sipping radicchio]

86. Has anyone ever read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower?"

I took a university course on young adult novels and chose that one for my banned book. I wasn't too thrilled with its content. I remember Judy Blume's "Forever." I wanted to read that sooo bad and I went to my local library (where the librarian knew me personally) and put it on the front desk. I was thirteen, by the way, and in 7th grade. She saw the title and asked me if I thought I was old enough to be reading it and I answered 'yes' and she allowed me to check it out. (Now my hometown, as most places, have private checkouts so you can do it by yourself!)

I liked the librarian's concern; not too restrictive, yet acknowledging that this was mature reading. But I feel that the book has something worthwhile to it; at least more than I recall from 'Wallflower...'