UWSP Libraries

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.  The week brings together librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Support Censored Comics   The ALA's  Office for Intellectual Freedom  (OIF) receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools.  The top ten most frequently challenged books of 2014 include: 1)       The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , by Sherman Alexie Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying” 2)   

Faith Ed : Teaching About Religion in an Age of Intolerance  By Linda K. Wertheimer Call Number:   LC111 .W47 2015 Review from the NY Times Publisher's Description :   An intimate cross-country look at the new debate over religion in the public schools.   A suburban Boston school unwittingly started a firestorm of controversy over a sixth-grade field trip. The class was visiting a mosque to learn about world religions when a handful of boys, unnoticed by their teachers, joined the line of worshippers and acted out the motions of the Muslim call to prayer. A video of the prayer went viral with the title “Wellesley, Massachusetts Public School Students Learn to Pray to Allah.” Charges flew that the school exposed the children to Muslims who intended to convert American schoolchildren. Wellesley school officials defended the course, but also acknowledged the delicate dance teachers must perform when dealing with religion in the classroom. Courts long ago banned p

Fire and Ice: Soot, Solidarity, and Survival on the Roof of the World By Jonathan Mingle Call Number:   TD885.5.C3 M56 2015 A review from Kirkus Reviews Publisher's Description:  High in the Himalayan valley of Zanskar in northwest India sits a village as isolated as the legendary Shangri-La. Long fed by runoff from glaciers and lofty snowfields, Kumik--a settlement of thirty nine mud brick homes--has survived and thrived in one of the world's most challenging settings for a thousand years. But now its people confront an existential threat: chronic, crippling drought, which leaves the village canal dry and threatens to end their ancient culture of farming and animal husbandry. Fire and Ice weaves together the story of Kumik's inspiring response to this calamity with the story of black carbon. Black carbon from inefficient fires - the particulate residue that makes soot dark - is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.

Description: Professors often want students to do in-depth work in the Library, but creating library-based assignments can be headache inducing with constant changes in technology and web content. Learn how to avoid assignment pitfalls and create library assignments that are relevant for multiple semesters regardless of technological shifts in this workshop.  Intended Audience:  Faculty/Staff Date & Time:   Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at noon - 1:00 p.m. Location:  LRC 107 Presenter:  Dave Dettman, Access Services/Assessment Librarian The workshop is free, but we would like you to  register here.   We hope to see you there!

Description:  Are you still adjusting to life without the old library catalog? Come learn about search tips, how to request items, and other updates to the Library resource discovery tool, Search@UW. Intended Audience:  Faculty/Staff/Students Date & Time:   Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Location:  LRC 107 Presenter:  Terri Muraski, Systems Librarian The workshop is free, but we would like you to  register here.   We hope to see you there!