LISNews: Librarian News

ALA\'s List of the most banned or challenged books of the 90\'s is out. And the top 5 are...

1. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite

2. Scary Story (Series) by Alvin Schwartz

3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier -- Read More

This is an interesting story from the Toledo Blade. A library rejected a donation of a biography of Martha Sanger (an abortion-rights activist) that it saw to be \"badly written...comes across as a polemic, not a biography\". Four years later, the donator is crying censorship.
\"Ironically, the author of the book, Dr. George Grant, sees nothing wrong with the library\'s decision to not carry his book. \"Institutions are full of agendas. Libraries are run by humans, so they will always reflect a particular bent,\" Dr. Grant said. -- Read More

Steven
Williams of Global Learning Outreach fame (http://www.glo.org).
sent in this News Bulletin from the Friends of Cuban
Libaries

MORE ARRESTS FAIL TO STOP LIBRARY
EXPANSION

Despite a flurry of repressive actions by the Cuban
government in recent months, it appears likely that the
fiftieth independent library will soon open its doors in
the island nation. -- Read More

This Story begs the question, Does being in Jail mean you can\'t read what you want?
In The Arkansas Benton County Jail, apparently it does. It seems the Ministry is now choosing the books prisoners can read, and has removed everything except \"volumes with religious themes and \"spiritually uplifting little novelettes\".

\"\"I think this is a violation of our constitutional rights,\" said Ms. Marin, who is being held on suspicion of misdemeanor failure to pay fines and restitution and driving with a suspended driver\'s license. \"I do not believe they can let the clergy tell us what we can and cannot read.\" -- Read More