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In conjunction with Teen Read Week this year, we are also celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the Hyde Library at MUS.  As we celebrate reading with contests, prizes, & sweet treats, we also have displays reflecting our 40 year history and an "old school" photo identification contest.  We're having a great week and lots of fun in the Hyde Library!

Upper School Battle of the Books

The cookie rush!  Thanks to our mom volunteers for their delicious cookies.

Cookies, books, & friends make a great combination:

Celebrating 40 years of library excellence:

We are proud of our library's heritage and history as we stay current with the latest library technology and resources.  We still have our original, extensive book collection because we are fortunate in having a free-standing library building which provides adequate room for a strong collection.  We routinely remove outdated and worn materials, but retain the relevant, useful and valuable items in our collection regardless of their age.  At the same time, our collection is constantly growing with the addition of the best new resources, ranging from outstanding databases for research to e-books and e-readers to the newest releases of popular young adult fiction titles.  The Hyde Library continues to be a vital hub of the campus and to provide the best materials for academic growth and success.

MUS student in Hyde Library ca. 1971:

The Hyde Library has jumped into the world of e-readers!

We now have two Nooks and two Sony Readers available for students and staff to check out.  The e-readers can be used on campus during the school day or checked out for a week.  Students need a parent's signed permission to check an e-reader out for a week, but it's not necessary for checkout during the school day.   The form is available in the library and online here.

Why did we get e-readers?

Ebooks are becoming more common and are more readily available than they were a couple of years ago.  The Hyde Library has provided access to academic ebooks for our students and staff to read from any computer for several years.  As a matter of fact, we have access to nearly 39,000 ebooks through NetLibrary.  However, we haven't provided access to popular fiction in ebook format until now and it's more convenient to read a fiction title on a portable e-reader than on a computer.  MUS students are reading more and more current, popular fiction -- either for book clubs or on their own -- and we want to meet the demand for those books in both ebook and physical formats. 

What books will be loaded on the e-readers?

Right now, we are loading book club selections on the e-readers because we need multiple copies of those books immediately.  However, not all books are available in ebook format and there is one current book club selection that we can't get in ebook format for an e-reader.  Students and staff are welcome to suggest other titles for the e-readers and there is a request form available at the Welcome Desk.  Please don't hesitate to talk to us about books you would like to have available on an e-reader. 

Why no Kindles?

We have nothing against Kindles, but right now, it's difficult for libraries to manage ebook circulation on Kindles.  Technology business models are changing rapidly, so we might be able to work with Kindles in the future.

Will physical books in our library go away?

We don't anticipate that happening anytime soon, if ever.  There are definite advantages to both physical and electronic book formats and many good reasons for having both.  Some people love using technology and love the advantages of ebooks and e-readers.  Other people love the tactile sensations of holding a physical book and turning real pages instead of virtual ones.  They love the weight of a physical book and the smell of paper and binding.  Some people just love books, physical or electronic.  At the Hyde Library, we will continue to have both.

Stop by our interactive poetry display during the month of April and add your poetic creations to our magnetic board! 

Also, here's a link to 30 poets/30 days, a cool blog featuring a previously unpublished poem each day of the month.

Yes, April can be the cruelest month when term papers are due!

Stop by our Banned Books Week display at the front of our new welcome desk to see if some of your favorite books are in "jail" because they have been banned at some time in the U.S.  It is often the most memorable and lasting books that are banned by people who want to control your access to ideas.  Can you imagine not having the right to read a masterpiece such as To Kill A Mockingbird?

During the month of October, we have free access to the ebook edition of Burn This Book: PEN Writers Speak Out on the Power of the Word, edited by Toni Morrison.

"Published in conjunction with the PEN American Center, Burn This Book explores the meaning of censorship, and the power of literature to inform the way we see the world, and ourselves. Contributors including Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, David Grossman, Nadine Gordimer and other literary heavyweights, discuss the importance of writing from various views, both political and social. They illustrate the need for freedom of speech and human rights, and they emphasize the target writers become in a tyranny."  (from publisher's description) 

You can access this ebook beginning Oct. 1 through your NetLibrary account that you have created at school.   Use the link below to log in and then click on the "ebook of the month" box.  You can also create your NetLibrary account at this link, but you must create it on campus.

http://www.netlibrary.com/Login.aspx

Here's more interesting information on banned and challenged books:

This link takes you to a map of book bans and challenges in the U.S. from 2007-2009.  Click on the blue balloons to read about a book banned or challenged in each location:

http://bannedbooksweek.org/Mapofbookcensorship.html

Here's a list of frequently banned or challenged classics:

 http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm

The 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990-2000 are listed here:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_2000.cfm

Can reading be toxic to your brain? Take a look at our "toxic books" display in the library foyer.  You'll find several books that have been challenged or banned somewhere in the U.S. for various reasons.  Usually those reasons are political, religious, or social.  For example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird have been challenged for racial issues.  The Golden Compass and all the Harry Potter books have been challenged for religious reasons.  The Chocolate War has been challenged for mature content, offensive language, and violence.

The books on display are marked with locations and reasons for being challenged or banned.  You can find more about banned books and the reasons they have been banned at these sites:

http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com/

http://ala8.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm

http://www.ila.org/pdf/2008banned.pdf

According to the American Library Association, "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."   This is a basic intellectual freedom issue and The American Library Association states that it is your right to "seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction."

Respect

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

and the Memphis sanitation workers' strike

  after 40 years

 (April 1968-April 2008)

Please take a moment to look at our display in the library foyer of books and photographs about the Memphis sanitation workers' strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The sanitation workers' message, illustrated by their "I am a man" signs, speaks eloquently of the human need for dignity and respect.

You might also be interested in reading Hampton Sides' (MUS class of 1980) memories & perspective of these events in the latest issue of Memphis magazine.  Here's a link to the article, titled "The Strike Zone": http://www.memphismagazine.com/gyrobase/Magazine/Content?oid=oid%3A41290 

Other items on display include:

Going down Jericho Road by Michael K. Honey, At the River I Stand by Joan Beifuss, I May Not Get There With You by Michael Eric Dyson, and Pictures Tell the Story by Ernest C. Withers. 

“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” --  Prime Minister WINSTON CHURCHILL, speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, October 29, 1941.—Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963, ed. Robert Rhodes James, vol. 6, p. 6499 (1974).

Here are some materials you’ll find on display in the library reflecting this month’s theme of perseverance:

“To Harry James Potter, … I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.” (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p. 126)  Harry not only perseveres in Quidditch, but in overpowering evil forces in the world.  Many heroes in fantasy literature rely on perseverance to succeed in their noble quests.  Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series is another great example of this literary theme.

What is the What: the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers.

This novel is based on the life of one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan who were refugees of the Sudanese civil war in the 1980s.  He was one of thousands of children who were forced to leave their homes and walk for hundreds of miles to find freedom, all while being bombed by Sudanese air forces, dodging land mines, and being pursued by wild animals and soldiers.   After surviving years in refugee camps, he faced the challenges of relocating to the United States and adjusting to his new life.  This is truly a story of perseverance in the face of adversity.

The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation by Drew Hanson.  Dr. King is a shining example of the perseverance necessary to achieve social change.

Not as well known to us as Dr. King was William Wilberforce.  His passion and perseverance led to the passing of the law to end the British slave trade in the late 18th Century.  His story is dramatized in the movie Amazing Grace.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a classic study of perseverance in the character of the old man.

Unstoppable: 45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance and Triumph from People Just Like You by Cynthia Kersey.

We've added lots of books related to sports this fall and many are currently on display near the magazines.  You'll find fiction and non-fiction on sports ranging from football, basketball, and soccer to wrestling, lacrosse, and Nascar.

Now that basketball season is in full swing, take a look at the great photos and stories by some of SI's best writers in The Basketball Book, just published by Sports Illustrated in October.

Altruism: Sources from the Hyde Library

Starting Points for Discussion:

Children’s Book:  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (can a person give too much?)

Movie:  Pay It Forward (could this idea ever really work?)

            Book: Ordinary Grace: Lessons from Those Who Help Others in Extraordinary Ways by Kathleen A. Brehony (which example in this book is the most inspiring to you?)

Articles for Further Reflection:

“The $91 Billion Conversation” (interview with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) in Fortune:

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18637389&site=ehost-live.  Gates and Buffett on economics and their decisions to give their fortunes to charity.

“Rats & Ratatouille: Eating and Altruism” can be found in our Today’s Science database at http://www.2facts.com/TSOF/temp/45563temps1500114.asp.  Rats who have been helped are more likely to help another rat.

“If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural,”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701056.html.  This article by Shankar Vedantam investigates “whether the brain has a built-in moral compass.”

From a Literary Perspective:

Two short stories by Eudora Welty, both published in the same collection, A Curtain of Green, show a sharp contrast in the way some people look at helping others.  In “A Visit of Charity,” a 14-year-old girl visits a nursing home.  In “A Worn Path,” an aging grandmother walks for miles to get medicine for her chronically ill grandson.  But each story features a completely different set of motives.  Read the stories, available in the Hyde Library, and see what you think.

Books on display this month in the Hyde Library:

Bennet, William J. The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories.

Canfield, Jack. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning.

Clinton, Bill. Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World

Jarvis, F. Washington. With Love and Prayers: A Headmaster Speaks to the Next Generation.

McCain, John. Character is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember.

Wood, John. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children.

You might also be interested in this website with all kinds of information about Altuism:

http://www.humanityquest.com/topic/Index.asp?theme1=altruism

Why do we highlight banned books in the library every year and why should you care?

Because this is a basic intellectual freedom issue!  The American Library Association states that it is your right to "seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction."  Stop by our display in the library foyer and see if you can figure out which books are wrapped in brown paper.

Books have been banned for  political, religious, sexual, or social grounds.  Did you know that The Bible is at the top of the list of banned books?  Many of the books that you read for your English classes have been banned at some time in history, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Canterbury Tales, The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Check out this link to see a list of the top 112 banned books owned by libraries:  http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/banned.htm

Do you know the difference between a banned book and a challenged book?

According to the American Library Association, "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."

Here is a link to the American Library Association's list of the books most challenged in 2006:

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=151926

No list of challenged books is complete without mentioning Harry Potter!  Last year, the Harry Potter books were at the top of ALA's list of most challenged books of the 21st century.  Also on this list was the Captain Underpants series, a perennial favorite of small boys!  Here's a link to this interesting list:

http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/september2006/HarryPottermostchallenge.htm

Here's more information about challenged and banned books from the ALA:

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm