Current mood:

relieved

CONTRABAND
     Well, Banned Books Week went great!  The principal was totally supportive of us, and he himself read a morning announcement about it over the PA system, and did not shy away from anything, and emphasized all the right stuff.  I was AMAZED and thrilled, because this is the first principal I've worked with who was even willing to CALL it "Banned Books Week," rather than the pussy cop-out version, "Freedom To Read Week."  The principal before this one didn't want to incite anything by using the term "banned books."  
     The video journalism class, which always does a video announcement on Fridays, did a special spot about Banned Books Week.  The kid who did it was great.  He borrowed a bunch of "controversial" books from our library, and had them all lined up in front of him, and talked about intellectual freedom, and hit all the right terms.  He said his "personal favorite" was Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, (by Judy Blume) which made us all laugh because that book is all about periods and developing breasts and other girl stuff.  Then he ended it by encouraging everybody to come to our library and check out all the "contraband" we have available.  I loved that.
     The video journalism teacher, who's a friend of mine, said the kid wanted to put Annie On My Mind (by Nancy Garden) out in front of him on the table for the video.  It's about two teenage girls who fall in love, and what happens when people find out.  I think it was one of the first books about a gay romance for teens, and is fairly well-known.  The teacher said he told the kid NOT to put that one out front, because he should display the ones that kids will be familiar with, like Harry Potter, The Giver, Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark, etc.  I was like, "You are such a pussy.  What makes you think there AREN'T kids who are familiar with Annie On My Mind?"  But at least he initiated the spot on the announcements, so I won't complain too much.