In celebration of Banned Books Week Sept 26th-Oct 3rd….

My favorite ever library advertising for Banned Books Week…

From the Twin Hickory Public Library in Glen Allen, Virginia from last year’s Banned Books ‘living’ display.

And thanks to Cory Doctorow who profiled this library last year in Boing Boing – click here for the full article.

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An interesting sidenote to this display is what happened last year when the Henrico County Library System, which Twin Hickory library is in, sponsored an ‘All Henrico Reads’ for the works of noted YA (and adult) author Julia Alvarez.

Over the course of the summer high school students and Henrico residents read Alvarez’s books in anticipation of her speaking engagement at Henrico County Library, planned for October 7th, 2008.   However, the appropriateness of Alavrez’s book, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents – a required or recommended book on the Henrico County summer reading lists for many high schools and a noted YA book in general (including being featured as one of the new ‘ 21 classics of the 21st century’ by NYC librarians) — was questioned by some school parents, specifically for its ‘ mature’  (i.e. sexual) content and the book was taken off the school’s recommended reading list.

Alavrez, incidentally, did still speak for ‘All Henrico Reads’ (article from Richmond Times Dispatch here) but the event seems a little bittersweet when her best known and loved book was, in effect, shielded from its one of its target audience – teens.

So, not only was Twin Hickory’s library display last year a fantastic and eye catching way to celebrate Banned Books week — it was also reflecting the very real book challenges occurring right in their area over notable and renown works of YA literature.