Sterne Library News

What? Sterne Library Readout

When? September 30, 2011, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where? Sterne Library Browsing Room

How? Email Dana Hettich to claim your 15 minutes!

Why? From Barbara Jones, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, “While we firmly support the right of every reader to choose or reject a book for themselves or their families, those objecting to a particular book should not be given the power to restrict other readers’ right to access and read that book.  As members of a pluralistic and complex society, we must have free access to a diverse range of viewpoints on the human condition in order to foster critical thinking and understanding.  We must protect one of the most precious of our fundamental rights – the freedom to read.”

This year, Sterne is going to “Celebrate the Freedom to Read” by encouraging others to do just that.

Join us on Friday, September 30^th. Pick a book from the list of the American Library Association’s most challenged and contact Dana Hettich (dhettich@uab.edu) to reserve your time.    Volunteers read out loud for 15ish minutes from each title. It is your choice where you start and where you stop. We will be happy to provide the items if volunteers don’t have items of their own. All members of the UAB community, readers and listeners, are welcome!

Alternately, be a part of the Virtual Read-Out and be entered to win a Banned Books Week t-shirt.  During Banned Books Week, September 24 – October 1, readers will be able to post videos of themselves reading excerpts of their favorite books to a dedicated YouTube channel.  The rules are simple:

1. The video can be no more than 2 minutes long.  Checkout the list of the most challenged titles, it includes classics.
2. Upload your video to YouTube.  You will need a YouTube or Google account to do this.  A video tutorial on how to upload onto YouTube can be found here.
3. The title of your video should include “Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out.” A good example is “Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out: A reading from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
4. Use the Description to explain why you chose the title (optional).
5. Tag your video with virtualreadout to make sure that your video appears on the channel.
6. Post a link to the video on Sterne Library’s Facebook Page.  A winner will be drawn from the week’s submissions on Monday October 2^nd.

Image is original work by C Pirate, brought you via a Creative Common license.