On going reading assignment: Banned Books

1.Choose 2 or 3 of the books on this list and research why these titles were challenged.


Chapters from My Diary
By Leon Trotsky
It was challenged because of  the involvement of political bias,  the author was a  Russian communist.


Goosebumps and Fear Street book series
Challenged because it contains violence and a lack of respect for parental authority.

2 Do you notice any trends?
Most challenged books contain violence, and reflection on sexual assault, child abuse, family conflict.

3 Choose 10 novels from the list and check our catalogue to see if we have any of these books. Have you read any of the books on the list?

Of Mice and men by John Steinbeck

         Waging War from Canada By Mike Pearson
         This non-fiction book argues that Canada is an ideal launching pad for international terrorism              against the United States.

A Jest of God By Margaret Laurence
A novel that depicts the unhappy life of an elementary schoolteacher in small-town Manitoba.  

A Little Piece of Ground By Elizabeth Laird
Novel about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy living in an Israeli-occupied area. 

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain
Classic novel set in the southern United States.

And Tango Makes Three By Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (2005)
Children’s book about penguins.

Ani Croche and La course a l’amour By Bertrand Gauthier
Two books for young people. 

Antigone By Sophocles
Ancient Greek tragedy. 

Asha’s Mums By Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse
A children’s story book that depicts same-sex parents. 

Baby Be-Bop by Francesco Lia Block
Bad Medicine: A Judge’s Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community

I haven't read any of the challenged work listed above.

4 Choose one of the books that you have not read before and read it.
     Of Mice and men by John Steinbeck

 5 Having read one of the books from a banned book list, offer a brief summary of the book.
     The book Of mice and men is about the two workers finding jobs during the great depression, a time when no one is able to get a permanent job. The two main characters George and Lennie are like the other workers, they too travel town to town to find jobs. George was the one who had to take care of Lennie and keep his out of trouble. At their new work place, the ranch owned by Curley's father, the two met Candy, Slim and crooks. At first, things were peaceful. Until one day Curley wasn't in a great mood and saw Lennie was laughing, thinking about the ranch he and George will own some day in the future, but Curley thought Lennie was laughing at him, Curley's mind went loose and hit Lennie, Lennie fought back by grabbing Curley's hand and crushed it. Later on, the scene changes to a morning, Lennie is wit ha dead puppy, apparently, Lennie killed the puppy. This is when Curley's wife comes in and started talking about how soft things feels great to touch. Curley's wife then invite Lennie to feel her hair, but Lennie couldn't control his strength and started messing around with the girl's hair too hard. Curley's wife started to struggle, in an accident, Lennie broke her neck and killed her. Lennie noticed that he had done a bad thing and remembered to go into the woods George told him to go if he gets into any trouble, and in the woods, George killed Lennie so he won't get killed by the other men working on the ranch with the guilt of a murderer.

 6 In more detail, write about the areas of the novel that you think raised concern. Why do you suppose the book was on the list? Do you think the reasons for the challenge were legitimate?
      The part of this book that raised concern is the language and truth that was reflected through the book which was the social issues. People lives in great depression period don't like reading books that truthfully reflect how they live day by day. It's logical that this kind of book will be challenged book during the 1930's.  It's challenged nowadays is because the book is said to be too "negative" and "dark." because it contains too much sensational language.

 7 In 350-500 words, argue for or against including the book in our school collection.

      Challenged books usually contain restricted materials, for example, violence and political bias.
In the book, there were two scenes that involve the use of a gun to kill either animal or human. people might think this should not be read by teenagers and see it as the propaganda of euthanasia, but if people look closely at the scene where George kills Lennie, it's way of letting Lennie free, but George did it in a sinful way. Lennie should be considered innocent since he suffers a mental disorder and involuntarily killed Curley's wife, but the other men in the ranch consider him as a 'sinister' because he killed a person. George's action in killing Lennie can also be understood from the view that the guilt that has been applied on Lennie is now transferred on to George. The second reason why this book is often challenged is because of the vulgarity and  language in the book. The book has many typical western American dialect, ranch farmers in the 1930's talk with swearing languages, but having languages like that does not mean that it has to be banned. In other cases, it is a great tool for the readers to create connections with the people at that time. The true reflection of how people talk and live in that time period. If it's included in the school collection, the book will be a 'textbook' for students to understand humanities and social issues. The last  reason why the book is challenged is the description of racism and unfair treatment of women. Crooks, the only African American working on the ranch, are not involved in any of the activities that the other men do, he always work alone, and he himself told Lennie that the other men said that he stinks, however, he's the only one who could read. Irony is hidden in this, and this allows readers to think deeply into the words of the true meaning of human equality.

Learning Commons assignment

What is The Learning Commons?

1. Researching

Using LISTA, (Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts) find an article to read on “the learning commons”

Write the bibliographic information below:

Steele                   _, Ryan. “The Journey from library to learning commons.” Teacher librarian _
               Author Last Name      First Name Article Title Journal Title/Name

_42__ _3_.               _12-17_____.
Volume Issue         Pages

Please write a 1 page summary of the article that you’ve read.  Explain how it relates to the learning commons model and what you’ve learned about the idea of a learning commons from reading the article.

Article summary

The author told a series of steps he or she went through on the way of creating a learning commons. Painting the walls with brighter colors, using new and useful furniture, establishing a "Maker-space" where the tables and chairs can be recreated by students, Green screens and other new technology such as kindles, a creative area such as Lego wall. From the understanding of the article, a learning commons should provide a series of learning activities, the learning activities could be shown in ways of reading, have a freedom to write, or draw. It could also be a place where students can stay for socializing and studying in spare blocks. Keeping the learning commons tidy and organized is also important. A tidy place will give people a good mood. A good learning commons should also have enough supplies for everyone, believing that they will return everything back, this establishes a trust bridge between the users and the librarians. Moreover, the new technology had to be accessible for everyone in the learning commons. Overall, the learning commons is a place where interaction, friendship, learning and entertainment happen. People can enjoy things that they might not have time to do at home or other places, it’s also a place in school or community where new innovation of education is adapted to everyone.

2.  Reading/ Synthesizing

Find the book The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps to Transform your Library by Pamela Colburn Harland.

Scan through the book.  Using the steps outlined by Harland, create a chart that presents a report card for how our library is doing.  

The Steps	What We’re Already Doing	How we can Improve
User- centered	Clean workshops for the users great resources	Textbook section in the library for students to use in the library only.
Flexible	Having a library wiki	Making the physical and virtual spaces have a more scalable and sustainable change.
Join resources	Having been able to join the efficient resources for students to use	Access to computers, iPad and more, creating a student and technology interaction
Remove barriers	Collaboration breaks-the sticky notes	Creating a password protected with access to electronic resources for users.
Trust your users	Accessible tools and supplies for users.	Keep a box where students can access the tools or stationaries they need
publicize	Having simple newsletter template	Having monthly reports
Repetitive questions	Collecting questions and answering them	Creating handout for FAQ

3.  Listening / Thinking

Please go to the following site episode of CBC’s The Current: “Designing Libraries that are Relevant in the Digital Age”

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/10/20/designing-libraries-in-the-21st-century-new-headline-just-a-holder/

Listen to the first 10 minutes of the podcast and answer the following questions:

1. How does Morton Schmidt describe the modern library? What are some of the features?

Morton Schmidt thinks modern library is Very different, it’s a gathering place for people, they should have the space to  socialize, and share knowledge with each other. Morton Schmidt thinks the library is important as a church, or a community center. It’s a place to find comfort. Some of the features in a well designed modern library are workshops where people can do things may not be able to do in other places of the city.

2. Why does Schmidt think we still need libraries?  What does he compare them to?

People talking to each other the communication could not be reached on web. Still some people want a place where books are gathered, noncommercial, he compared to life how we need to bring the knowledge we own to life every day.

3. Why is light so important to his design on the library?

The old traditional libraries are dusty , old and dark which made it dull to stay in. The light is so important in his design is the purpose of getting people to feel and connected to nature.

4. Describe what is meant by democratic architecture. 

Design for everyone, open and accessible for everyone, drawing attention to people in every cultural group.

4. Reflecting

Given your new knowledge of the idea of a LEARNING COMMONS, write a thoughtful paragraph reflecting on the changes to libraries over your time in school.  Which changes have been both necessary and successful and which aspects of the library should stay the same.

Through the three years studying in Fleetwood Park Secondary, I’ve seen a lot of changes being done to the learning commons. The walls are repainted, and the carpets are changed. The book shelves are replaced or taken down from walls if unnecessary, the tables and chairs are renewed and also rearranged. The front desk has been lowered so the “barriers” can be taken down. The Ancient labels disappeared. The learning commons changed completely. The old walls was in turquoise, although it looked calming, it looked a bit ancient, after the walls are repainted the library looked more modernized. The new dark color collage style carpet come in contrast with the white walls and made the learning commons comfortable to stay. The change of the tables seems necessary in my opinion, first of all, the old desks looks dull and heavy, giving the library an ancient feel, but after the new desks are in, even though they are in weird shapes; they are efficient to use since they can be rearranged in a way of jigsaw puzzle. With these tables in the library, the area are there for students to be creative with what they want. The second necessary change of the learning commons is the front desk. The old desk in the library has a high front which blocks most of the vision if the librarians sit down, they may not be able to also enjoy the library as much as the other people in the library do. The new front desk completely eliminated the blockage.