LISNews: Librarian News

Maybe you've seen those Dove ads that are attempting to teach young girls about real beauty in the current atmosphere of skinny models, skimpy clothes, trashy talk and racy behavior?

Well author Addie Swartz felt that something too was lacking in terms of books for pre-teen girls and so she started her series "The Beacon Street Girls" as an alternative to series like "Clique" and "Gossip Girl".

The stories, which revolve around five middle-school girls in Brookline, MA, are shaped by leading experts in adolescent development, with the goal of helping girls build self-esteem and coping skills. Topics include the problems of an overweight girl and cyber bullying. This month the series will launch its latest book, “Green Algae and Bubblegum Wars,” a novel aimed at encouraging girls in science. The book is the result of a collaboration with Sally Ride, an astronaut who was the first American woman to orbit Earth.

More about the series from the Science section of today's New York Times.

A group of students stood silent in the Galesburg High School learning resource center Tuesday morning, tape on their eyes and mouths. In celebration of Banned Books Week, Monday through Friday, GHS media specialist Becky Robinson constructed a banned books display in the LRC and invited civics, government and language arts classes to the library for some instruction on censorship. Some of the books students found in the display were surprising.

One of America's largest distributors of books to schools has stopped listing Bratz books, after a campaign from parents saying the characters contributed to the sexualisation of children. The Bratz books are a spin-off from MGA Entertainment's line of Bratz dolls, which variously wear miniskirts, fishnet stockings, bikinis and feather boas.

Weeded books from the Mamaroneck Library found a new home thanks to Eagle Scout Benjamin Bernstein.

Bernstein and about 20 of his friends and family members donated about 3,000 books to the Hispanic Resource Center. The donation is a part of Bernstein's Eagle Scout Service project, which will distribute almost 10,000 cast-off books from the Mamaroneck library to various organizations throughout the community. Bernstein is a volunteer at the library.

The library was trying to figure out a way to put 10,000 outdated books to use as it prepares to break ground on a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion project next month.