Monday, September 27, 2010

Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009

Continuing with Banned Books Week, below you will find the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2009 as tracked by the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom. The OIF reported 460 challenges in the 2009 calendar year.

The Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009:

  1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle
  2. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
  3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
  6. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
  8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
  9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Gambling

Encyclopedia of Gambling
Located in Reference: REF: HV6710.S54 1990
Illustrations, charts (B & W), Glossary, Bibliography, Index

Covering the history, lore and rules of gambling from its beginnings in pre-history to the slots of Las Vegas, this book gives out much useful information on one of mankind’s favorite ways to spend time (and money). Beginning with the introduction, which claims that loaded dice have been found in ancient graves in places as far apart as Egypt and South America, the book offers an in-depth look at both legitimate gambling and ways of cheating at the games it describes.

Contained in the book are the rules for many card games including such modern games as Blackjack, Pinochle and Poker as well as older games like Faro and Pochen (the forerunner of Poker). Dog and horse racing are covered along with games requiring devices that can be modified to change the odds such as craps (dice) and roulette (wheel) and games where one must choose a number or a winner to get a payoff (Keno, the Lottery and Sporting events). Among the interesting bits of information are pictures showing a sleeve hold out machine (a device for cheating in cards) and one illustrating how to run a shell game.

The gambling traditions of many countries are explained so that one learns that one has a good chance of finding illegal Fan Tan games in Hong Kong, but will find the casinos of neighboring Macao unfriendly and possibly dangerous and that Germans spend more money than most other Europeans on gambling activities, while Denmark has very few opportunities to lose ones money. Also included are short biographical descriptions of famous gamblers where interesting trivia is found such as the poker hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was gunned down in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876 contained pairs of aces and eights, a hand now known as the “dead man’s hand”.

The glossary is helpful for learning the meaning of various gambling terms and when to use them. Included are terms such as “Little Joe from Kokomo” (rolling a 4 in craps), “check and raise” (a somewhat unscrupulous method of faking in poker) and “kibitzer” (a person who watches but does not participate in a game) The bibliography contains further references for more detailed reading on all of the topics covered in the book except racing.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Banned Book Week 2010


Banned Book Week 2010
Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same

Every year, libraries celebrate Banned Books Week. It is a time to celebrate the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Sponsored and organized by the American Library Association (ALA), Banned Book Week is central to libraries and their belief in intellectual freedom - where patrons can access any type (unorthodox or mainstream) information freely and without censorship. At Hewes Library, we currently have titles on display in the East Lobby display cases that have been the subjects of attempted bannings across the United States.



Challenge VS. Banning:
According to parameters set in place by the American Library Association, challenges and bannings are defined as:

"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." (Definition from ALA.)

More information on Banned and Challenged Books:


Graphics complimentary from the American Library Association.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Allegorical Literature

Encyclopedia of Allegorical Literature
Located in Reference, REF PN 56.A5 L 44 1996
1 volume with illustrations/photos
Appendices: Titles featured in the text, Titles featured in the text, listed by date
Bibliography and Index

This short encyclopedia (fewer than 300 pages) serves to introduce how allegory has been used by authors throughout the ages to comment on human foibles and virtues. Although the work contains short sections on other art forms such as music and painting, it concentrates on works of literature and their authors. Some of the choices appear to be unusual (Alice in Wonderland as an allegory on the Church of England, Huckleberry Finn as an allegory on the development of America); but others are more traditionally viewed as allegories (Animal Farm, Gulliver’s Travels) The book gives insights and alternate ways of looking at a number of literary works and authors and contains a useful list of the titles covered in the work at Appendix A, which will let you know if the title you are interested in is covered by the book.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Hewes Library To Go Workshops - September

Hewes Library is offering a few more To Go! workshops before the end of the month. Both workshops will take place in Hewes Library 124 - the instructional area on the main floor of the library.
  • Requesting off-campus Materials will be offered on Wednesday, September 22 from 3 - 3:15pm.
  • Searching the Library Catalog will be offered on Thursday, September 23 from 3 - 3:15pm.

Additional workshops for October will be announced soon here on the blog, the campus message boards, and via campus flyers.

Einstein Brothers Bagels

Over the summer, the coffee shop of Hewes Library was renovated into an Einstein Brothers Bagels location. Einstein Brothers Bagels, along with the library, is now opening earlier in the morning. The store's hours are:
  • Monday - Thursday: 7:30am - 8:00pm
  • Friday: 7:30am - 2:00pm
  • Saturday: 11:00am - 3:00pm
  • Sunday: 4:00pm - 8:00pm

Friday, September 17, 2010

Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Aesthetics

Encyclopedia of aesthetics
Located in Reference, Main Floor REF: BH65 E53 1998
4 volumes, no illustrations, index at the end of the 4th volume.

People often hear the word “aesthetics” but have little idea what this philosophical concept means. The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics fills that gap with over 600 entries written by scholars across a broad spectrum of thought, from philosophers and art historians to anthropologists and legal theorists. The definition of aesthetics used by encyclopedia is that it is a: “…critical reflection on art, culture and nature…” In case this isn’t clear, the book helpfully opens with a history of the development of aesthetics. It is an 18th century concept developed in Western Europe, although its concepts apply to any art anywhere. The first work to fully describe this new field of philosophical endeavor was Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment (1790).

Although aesthetics is linked to art, that term is broadly defined by the authors and entries include not just visual arts, but also written works, music and dance. Included are short biographies of aesthetic philosophers such as Plato, Kant and Heidegger; some artists, writers and musicians like Louis Armstrong, John Cage, Edgar Allan Poe and Thornton Wilder; cultural topics such as Feminist aesthetics and Queer Theory, as well as the historical aesthetics of eras including Byzantium, Ancient Greece, the Harlem Renaissance, Roman Empire and Post-World War II America and the geographical aesthetics in places like the Caribbean, China, India, the Islamic world and Latin America. This work is a useful introduction to an unusual topic.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

September's ScotsRead Titles

A few new ScotsRead titles have recently come into the library. Stop by and browse the ScotsRead Collection on the main floor of the library - near the New Books display. Some of the titles that have recently arrived are:
  • Hidden Heart of Emily Hudson by Melissa Jones
  • Does this make my assests look fat? A woman's guide to finding financial empowerment and success by Susan Hirshman
  • Dexter is Delicious: A Novel by Jeffry Lindsay
  • Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs
  • The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago by Douglas Perry
  • The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
  • Midnight Angels by Lorenzo Carcaterra

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Hewes Library To Go!

Need a refresher on placing inter-library loan requests? Need help finding articles for your research paper? Visit one of Hewes Library’s To Go! workshops. In these 15 minute workshops, library staff will review skills to get you through the semester & beyond! Workshops will be held in Hewes Library’s Instructional Area, Room 124, on the main floor of the library—near the public workstations.

Searching the Library Catalog
  • Friday, Sept. 10: 11:55am—12:10pm

  • Tuesday, Sept. 14: 6—6:15pm

  • Thursday, Sept. 23: 3—3:15pm

Requesting Off Campus Materials

  • Monday, Sept. 13: 5—5:15pm

  • Thursday, Sept. 16: 11:55am—12:10pm

  • Wednesday, Sept. 22: 3—3:15pm

Finding Research Articles

  • Tuesday, Sept. 21: 6—6:15pm

The dates and times for additional sessions in October, November, and December will be announced at the end of the month previous.

Friday, September 10, 2010

New Items at Hewes Library

New items are added to the Hewes Library collection on a continual basis. Each week a selection of new items are displayed in the new book display case. The new book display case is located on the main level of the Hewes Library next to the ScotsRead collection. Recent titles have included:

  • Sin: A History by Gary A. Anderson
  • Arachnids by Jan Beccaloni
  • Romantic Drama by Frederick Burwick
  • Toxic Mix? by Herbert N. Foerstel
  • Progress and Values in the Humanities by Volney Gay
  • Strange Eventful History by Michael Holroyd
  • Martha Quest by Doris Lessing
  • Ten Hills Farm by C.S. Manegold
  • Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
  • Elia Kazan by Brian Neve



All new items in the New Book Display Case can be found in the Hewes Library catalog and are subject to normal circulation procedures for their respective collections. For more information on collection circulation policies, please visit the Hewes Library home page.