Celebrate Banned Books Week

From Kurt Vonnegut:

"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."

from A Man Without a Country, 2005

From the American Library Association:

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, please see Calendar of Events and Ideas and Resources. You can also contact the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4220, or bbw@ala.org.

Come check out our display of banned books from our collection in the front entrance of the Garland County Library.

Lego Club

The Children's Library is taking donations for your Legos!

"Please! Bring me more Legos!"





























LEGO CLUB
at the Garland County Library
Sunday, October 18th 1:30-3:00 PM
Ages 3-14
Registration Required

Join us each month as we explore a different theme.
October's theme is Buildings.

To register or for more information, please call 501-623-4161 or 501-922-4483

Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

See you soon!

Flu

Flu Precautions at the Library

We're taking the flu season seriously at the Garland County Library. Not only do we want to share useful and up to date information with the community, but we also want to make sure the library is a healthy, clean environment for patrons and staff.

If you or your child is experiencing any flu or flu-like symptoms, please wait to visit the library until symptoms subside. The library staff will do the same.

While using the library facility and library items, we urge you to wash hands often and to use hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer dispensers, surface cleaning wipes, and tissues are available at the front desk.

If you have questions or concerns, please let us know.

Tips for Staying Healthy

1. Maintain a healthy lifestyle through rest, diet, exercise, and relaxation.

2. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner if soap and water are not available. Be sure to wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.

3. Avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes. Germs spread this way.

4. Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your elbow. Dispose of tissues in no-touch trash receptacles.

5. Keep frequently touched common surfaces clean, such as telephones, computer keyboards, doorknobs, etc.

6. Do not use other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment. If you need to use a co-worker’s phone, desk, or other equipment, clean it first.

7. Don’t spread the flu! If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home. Symptoms of flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius) or chills and cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of flu can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, or vomiting. CDC recommends that sick workers stay home if they are sick with flu-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

8. Get vaccinated against seasonal flu, when vaccine is available in your area. If you are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications you should receive the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available. People at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications include pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes).

-From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Tennis, Anyone?

The U.S. Open wraps up this weekend, so in spirit of the game, we're serving up some great tennis themed recommendations from our collection.

One of the best recent books on the sport, Strokes of genius : Federer, Nadal, and the greatest match ever played, by Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim, revisits Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's epic five set 2008 Wimbledon final. The rain delays! The encroaching dark! It's all there, point by point. Aside from describing the match in detail (maybe too much detail for the casual reader), Wertheim does a great job providing context for this match, and for the modern game in general. Will there be a rematch at Flushing Meadows this weekend? Both men have advanced so far, so it's a possibility.

Looking for an insider's look at what it takes to win the U.S. Open (and the other majors as well)? Check out reformed tennis bad boy Andre Agassi's new book: Open : an autobiography, due to hit our shelves soon.

For a comprehensive overview of the sport, check out long time commentator Bud Collins' Total tennis : the ultimate tennis encyclopedia. It's full of great stats, records, and biographical information on the greatest players of all time.

Here's a sad stat for you: this is the first U.S. Open in which no American man has made it to the quarterfinals (thanks to Serena Williams and Melanie Oudin, the U.S. women are faring better), so if there are any men out there who'd like to work on their game for the next September, we have some great books on tactics for you as well. Tony, our resident player, recommends Serious tennis by Scott Williams and Maximum tennis : 10 keys to unleashing your on-court potential by Nick Saviano.

Game, set, match.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Noted filmmaker Ken Burns will premiere his newest work, The National Parks: America's Best Idea September 27th on PBS.

Since we are located within a stone's throw from Hot Springs National Park, we'd like to help promote Burns' new documentary. The Garland County Library will be distributing special bookmarks to promote the film. These bookmarks can be planted to grow wildflowers. Feel free to pick one up at the front desk or in scattered locations throughout the library (one per adult patron).

Visit pbs.org/nationalparks for more information concerning this project.