Comments on: Student Converts School Locker Into a Covert Lending Library for Banned Books

By: Neal

Neal — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:39:13 +0000

I happen to love the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy! Unfortunately many schools (like the public high school I graduated from) find the book is “too anti-establishment/anti-government” to be allowed in school. That was the reason I was told never to bring the book back onto school grounds after I was found reading it during lunch break.

Unfortunately that school did not find a copy of the US Navy’s autopsy manual to be “school appropriate” either.
No fun or interesting media will be accepted in many schools now.

By: Marilia

Marilia — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:16:01 +0000

Maybe it’s a strategy to make kids read… you know, reverse psychology! :))

By: School Librarian

School Librarian — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:16:48 +0000

It happens all the time, and not just in private schools. We’ve got a whole week that celebrates banned books and the freedom to read them. This link explains the reasons the most commonly banned books were banned/challenged (not actually removed from the shelves, but had a complaint against them).

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned.cfm

By: Jemimus

Jemimus — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:14:45 +0000

Could someone explain for each of these books what could possibly be objectionable to these people? I have only read a few of them.

By: James Sooy

James Sooy — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:16:40 +0000

Once again, some of these were required reading for me (animal farm, lord of the flies, divine comedy, paradise lost,) in public school – Dallas, Texas. On the other hand, jackets that were longer than mid-thigh were banned…

I’m interested to know the roots of the private school.

By: Come on!

Come on! — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:27:49 +0000

excuse the lack of a question sign.

By: Come on!

Come on! — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:26:22 +0000

The divine comedy was banned. What kind of a school banns the divine commedy. I have lost my faith in humanity.

By: Anne Marie

Anne Marie — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:22:39 +0000

i went to private school. 1st through college. catholic all the way. never had any banned books & read most of the ones on her list. as a matter of fact i read jerzy kosinskiso’s Painted Bird in 7th grade when Sr Mary Galvin let me pick whatever i wanted from the free reading corner…that was a weird youthful awakening for this preteen.

So, while Kat’s spending her HS career creating a little anti-establishment book locker i was trying to figure out how to skip class & get high under the bleachers.

could suppression be a motivator?

By: Beatrice M

Beatrice M — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:02:27 +0000

Go Kat! That’s fantastic. I went to a private high school in California – Robert Louis Stevenson – and many of those books were on the required reading list.

@bklyngirl – unfortunately, you are sadly mistaken. This is not a case of free speech as this is a private school and they can dictate whatever policies – however ass backwards – they want.

By: bklyngirl

bklyngirl — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:37:25 +0000

Oh, and for the record? CT Yankee in King Arthur’s Court wasn’t banned in the SOVIET UNION where I grew up.

By: bklyngirl

bklyngirl — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:15:51 +0000

I think that if Kat ever gets into trouble, every free speech lawyer in the land will be on her side, defending her all the way up to the Supreme Court. Way to go, Kat!

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:08:12 +0000

That’s awesome!

By: Jeremy Kitchen

Jeremy Kitchen — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:07:02 +0000

what?! hitchhiker’s guide is banned? who in their right mind would do such a thing?

By: Sierra Kempster

Sierra Kempster — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:58:34 +0000

I find it somewhat striking how many of those books were actually on the required reading lists when I was in high school, but then I went to a public high school in California, rather than a private school who-knows-where.