LIBRARY NOTES

September 25 through October 1 is banned books week.

There has been quite a bit of controversy lately about the practice of book banning. Libraries are full of books that are likely to offend someone for one reason or another. Although I am personally against the banning of books which I can understand the logic behind the offended person or group’s reasoning for banning or challenging some titles, and then there are those that make you scratch your head and wonder if some people may just have too much time on their hands.

One such book is E. B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.” This iconic book published in 1953 is loved by many, but according to the Chicago Tribune, the book was challenged in 2006 by parents in a Kansas school district who believed it was unnatural for animals to talk.

Another children’s book loved by many for its beautiful illustrations and uplifting repetitions that was challenged was “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. In 2010 the Texas Board of Education mixed up the author with another man. The person they were trying to ban was Bill Martin, who wrote a book titled “Ethical Marxism” and was no relation to Bill Martin Jr. The board banned all of Bill Martin’s books, not realizing there could be more than one author with the same name.

If you have a rebellious nature and would like to read these controversial books, we have them ready for you to check out here at the library.

Not a stranger to having his books challenged is the master of horror and New York Times bestselling author Stephen King. Legendary storyteller King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher, for that world or ours in his latest novel, “Fairy Tale.” We just received “Fairy Tale” in large print and it’s now available to be checked out.

Also in large print we have “Desperation in Death” by J.D. Robb, a gripping new thriller pitting homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil.

Although it is only September, the Christmas decorations are already hitting the shelves of our local stores and the Christmas-themed novels are making their way to the library. Melody Carlson’s novella “A Quilt for Christmas” is on our shelf in large print and ready to give your holiday season a kick start.

Check it all out at the library.

Donnice Carruth is director of the Dickens County-Spur Library, in Spur.