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September Newsletter

library.prairiestate.edu

Find out more about Challenged Books Week, Constitution Day, and the freedom to read.
For a listing of all of the Library's Newsletters check out our Archives!

What you can find this month:

Censorship and Constitution Day Guest Review of a Banned Book Upcoming Events
Read Banned & Challenged Books at PSC Find out more about the Constitution

Censorship and Constitution Day

by Katherine Sleyko

September not only marks the start of the school year: it's the time of year when two celebrations of freedom occur!

Constitution Day

The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. Our Constitution came with the Bill of Rights—the first 10 Amendments—which lay out certain freedoms that Americans are given. The First Amendment is arguably the most well-known: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Because it shares the date with the Constitution's signing, September 17 has been celebrated as Constitution Day since the 1940s.

Banned and Challenged Books Week

Though most people know about the First Amendment in relation to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, it also protects your freedom to read. Not only does it mean that the government can't stop someone from publishing their ideas, they can't stop other people from accessing them. People in the US can write without fear of arrest or government censorship: even today, this isn't a freedom all nations have.

This doesn't stop regular people in the US from trying to censor information, though. Libraries, booksellers, and even websites have been pressured to remove materials that different groups of people find offensive. However, libraries exist to get people information—even information we may not like! We think it's extremely important that people are free to explore ideas. So the American Library Association started Banned and Challenged Books Week, held the last week of September since 1982, to make these requests for censorship more public and to fight against restriction of your right to read.

Cover:Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Guest Review: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

By Dr. Justin A. Pariseau, Associate Professor of History

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) is widely considered today by historians and literary scholars to be one of the most important texts written in nineteenth-century America. Frederick Douglass’s first of three autobiographies published during the 1800s introduced him to a skeptical audience who initially could not believe that a man who had endured such horrors in slavery could stand before them as arguably the finest orator of all the abolitionists of the antebellum era. His biography stands as an important contribution to the genre of fugitive slave narratives written during the period, and more broadly, as a foundational contribution to African American literature.

Interestingly, the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) made national news recently due to revelations that, among other banned books, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography had been banned in recent years from the Illinois prison system as part of an inmate education program due to its “racial” content. IDOC appears to be addressing the issue, but it is not hard to imagine how Douglass would have felt about his book being banned. Douglass, in his own words, said that the pathway to freedom was to “set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read” – a powerful message that still resonates 174 years after it first appeared in print.

Want to check out Douglass' work for yourself? You can find the physical book in our catalog, or read it online through OneSearch.

Celebrate Constitution Day and Banned and Challenged Books Week!

by Katherine Sleyko

PSC will hold its Constitution Day in the Atrium on September 17, from 12:30pm to 2:00pm. Come talk to History professor Dr. Justin Pariseau about current Constitutional issues and history, and librarian Katherine Sleyko about it's imapact on our right to read.

You can celebrate Banned and Challenged Books Week by coming to PSC Library from September 23-27 and going on a blind date with a banned book. Any book on the Challenged or Banned books lists that the PSC Library owns will be wrapped in paper and put on display. With only a brief description of the contents on the wrapper, you won't know exactly which book you've checked out until you get it home!

Banned & Challenged Books @ PSC Library

Cover: I know why the caged bird sings

I know why the caged bird sings

Maya Angelou

One of many books challenged at Lemont High School District 210 in 2016

Cover: Go tell it on the mountain

Go tell it on the mountain

James Baldwin

One of many books challenged at Lemont High School District 210 in 2016

Cover: This one summer

This one summer

Mariko Tamaki

One of the Top 10 Most Banned & Challenged Books for 2018

Cover: A people's history of the United States

A people's history of the United States

Howard Zinn

Removed from a high-school reading list in Chatham, NJ in 2016

Cover: The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian

Sherman Alexie

One of the Top 10 Most Banned & Challenged Books for 2018

Cover: The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

One of the Top 10 Most Banned & Challenged Books for 2018

Cover: The adventures of Captain Underpants

The adventures of Captain Underpants

Dav Pilkey

One of the Top 10 Most Banned & Challenged Books for 2018

Cover: Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park

Rainbow Rowell

Removed from a high-school reading list in Chesterfield County, VA in 2016

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Works on the Constitution

Cover: The framers' coup

The framers' coup: The making of the United States Constitution

Michael Klarman

Cover: American epic: Reading the US Constitution

American epic: Reading the US Constitution

James Simon

Cover: The heart of the Constitution

The heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights became the Bill of Rights

Gerard N. Magliocca

Cover: The Federalist

The Federalist

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay; edited by Terence Ball

Cover: The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment: A biography

Waldman, Michael

Cover: Retained by the people

Retained by the people: The "silent" Ninth Amendment and the constitutional rights Americans don't know they have

Daniel A. Farber

Cover: Must we defend Nazis?

Must we defend Nazis?: why the First Amendment should not protect hate speech and White supremacy

Richard Delgado

Cover:Who freed the slaves?: The fight over the Thirteenth Amendment

Who freed the slaves?: The fight over the Thirteenth Amendment

Leonard L. Richards

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