Librarians in Second Life--of course!

Tentative Banned Books Week Schedule on ALA Island in SL Sept 27th to Oct 4, 2008!

There will be various events for Banned Books Week in Second Life -- including its own Banned Books Week Read-Out on October 4, 2008 at 12:30 Second Life Time/Pacific Time.

Tentative Banned Books Week Schedule Sept 27th to Oct 4, 2008

Here are the events that we have scheduled so far for ALA Island in Second Life for 2008 Banned Books Week. More events to be announced. Locations subject to change. See the (new!) ALA Island Facebook Fan Page for latest information.

Last revised: September 23, 2008

Saturday, Sept. 27th

- Censorship and School Libraries (30 min) ALL DAY

Galen Noltenius Sky Platform on ALA Island (214, 101, 49)

March 5, 1982 episode of “The Open Mind”

Host: Richard D. Heffner, University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers University

Guests: George W. Lipp, Jr., counsel for the Board of Education, and Alan H. Levine, counsel for Steven Pico and the other students, for the legal case, Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District Number 26 et al vs. Steven Pico et al, 457 U.S. 853, which helped bring about Banned Books Week. Read the transcript. Courtesy of the Internet Archive of The Open Mind episodes.

(FYI: See the book Board of Education v. Pico (1982) by John C. Gold. New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1994)

Sunday, Sept. 28th

- Frank Zappa On Crossfire, 1986-03-28 (30 min) ALL DAY

Galen Noltenius Sky Platform on ALA Island (214, 101, 49)

March 28, 1986 episode of “Crossfire”

Hosts: Tom Braden and Robert Novak

Guests: Rock musician Frank Zappa and Washington Post reporter John Lofton debate labeling of rock music records and censorship of music videos

Courtesy of the Internet Archive of Open Source Movies.

Monday, Sept. 29th

12:30 Second Life Time/Pacific Time - 2:30 Central Time

Small Stage on ALA Island (127, 132, 28)

- Open debate on And Tango Makes Three, written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, and illustrated by Henry Cole,

What makes this the most challenged book for the last two years?

Two volunteers needed to debate the main opposing sides — please contact Bryan Campbell of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom about parti....

Comments and questions from audience encouraged

Judy Blume . . . and Our Children’s Freedom to Read (1992) (30 min) ALL DAY

Galen Noltenius Sky Platform on ALA Island (214, 101, 49)

1992 episode of “The Open Mind”

Host: Richard D. Heffner

Guest: Author Judy Blume

Courtesy of the Internet Archive of The Open Mind episodes

Tuesday, Sept. 30th

- Storylines Midwest episode (60 min) ALL DAY

Sky Book Platform on ALA Island (129, 156, 69)

Featuring A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, winner of Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1991

Successfully banned at high school in Lynden, WA in 1994; successfully retained at high school in Round Rock, TX in 1996

Wednesday, Oct. 1st

12:30 Second Life Time/Pacific Time - 2:30 Central Time

- Censorship Discussion: What is the nature of censorship? Should we ultimately be appreciative of others’ attempts to protect us from certain words, turns of phrase, literary expressions, acts, and ideas?

Discussion moderated by avatar Bryan Anderton/Bryan Campbell of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

Comments and questions from audience encouraged

Thursday, Oct. 2nd

4:00 Second Life Time/Pacific Time - 6:00 Central Time

- Dance at *new* Garden of ALA Island (56, 106, 28)

Theme: Arabian Nights or The Thousand and One Nights by Anonymous

Not allowed into the USA (1927-1931) and confiscated in Egypt (1985), said to threaten moral fabric of citizens.

SPECIAL!! — Last day to enter the Name the ALA Garden Contest (details forthcoming)!

Friday, Oct. 3rd

12:30 Second Life Time/Pacific Time - 2:30 Central Time

Small Stage on ALA Island (127, 132, 28)

- Open debate on The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky