Read-Out this Friday at Thoreau Center

Reminder: Banned Books Week Continues

There are still a few days left in Banned Books Week (September 25 - October 2), the annual celebration of your freedom to write and read what you want. That means that you still have time to write on our Banned Books Wall on the front of the library. Thank you to everybody who has contributed and be sure to check it out to find out what some of the Thoreau Center’s favorite banned or challenged books are.

And on Friday, be sure to stop by from noon to 2:00 pm for our first ever Read-Out: spend a few minutes at lunchtime reading aloud from banned or challenged books and listen to others do the same - it’s like an audiobook but without the iPod and no volume control, and a fun way to speak out against would-be censors. We will also be announcing the winners of the Banned Books Week essay contest we sponsored for our student neighbors just down the road at the Bay School, and hopefully (their class schedule permitting) one or more of them will stop by to read their essays. If you would like to reserve a time slot to do a short reading (5 minutes or so) please contact the library at library@thoreau.org. Otherwise, just stop by - we will have a selection of banned books on hand. Refreshments will be provided.

Not sure what has been banned or challenged? Here is the top ten list for 2009 as assembled by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2. And Tango Makes Three , by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower , by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
4. To Kill A Mockingbird , by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6. Catcher in the Rye , by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
7. My Sister’s Keeper , by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things , by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. The Color Purple , by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War , by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

And some additional resources to check out:

· Amnesty International commemorates Banned Books Week by highlighting the plights of imprisoned and persecuted writers around the world: Banned Books Week 2010

· No. 1 banned author Lauren Myracle writes about her experiences in Wednesday’s Guardian: Building bridges with the book-banners

· The Office of Intellectual Freedom’s informative blog.

· And, of course, there is a Facebook page.

Banned Books Week display

Our Banned Books Week display so far. Lots of room left.

Banned Books Week at Whole Earth Library

It is that time of year again - Banned Books Week! Held during the last week of September, this event celebrates one of the most basic human rights of any democratic society: the right of intellectual freedom. It is a reminder that ongoing efforts to restrict access to books and information continue to be a major problem for schools and libraries all over the country. Books are challenged for a wide variety of reasons, but the effect of a successful challenge is always to deprive people of the opportunity to learn, to read important literature, and to be exposed to new ideas and points of view different from their own. Opposed to such efforts to shield people from ideas or to shut down voices, intellectual freedom holds that the open and civil debate of a free society depends upon a well-informed citizenry with the freedom to read freely.

The Whole Earth Library will once again join libraries throughout the country in Banned Books Week which runs from September 25 until October 2. Look for the return of our interactive, appropriate technology Banned Books display on the outside of the library wall where everyone will be encouraged to write quotes from their favorite banned and challenged books or to just share their thoughts about intellectual freedom in other creative ways. In addition, due to popular demand, our second annual celebration expands this year in a few ways:

• We are sponsoring an essay contest for our neighbors at The Bay School of San Francisco, a private coeducational college preparatory high school just down the street in the Presidio. Students will be asked to write on the subject of intellectual freedom and a sustainable future.The winner will be announced October 1.

• On October 1, there will be a Read-Out! in the hallway in front of the library. That afternoon, from noon to 2:00 pm, come and read aloud a passage from a banned or challenged book. Or sing a banned song. Or act part of banned play. We can be flexible. Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to sign-up for a specific time slot in which to read, please email the library at library@thoreau.org

If you would like to learn more and discover what books have been banned or challenged in the United States, visit the American Library Association's lists of Frequently Challenged Books. 2008's most challenged book, And Tango Makes Three, is no longer at the top of the list for 2009, but you might be surprised by some of the books that have returned to the list. Regardless, you will find lots of inspirational reading ideas.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Presidio "Green" Grand Opening

Open House Celebrating the Public Health Service District -
San Francisco's First "Green" Neighborhood

Saturday, September 25
11 am to 4 pm

The Public Health Service District - site of the park's largest historic building - has been revitalized as a "green neighborhood where people live, work, and enjoy the outdoors. Be among the first to explore and enjoy this historic area long close to the public. Learn more about the Public Health Service District.

The Thoreau Center and the Whole Earth Library will be attending.

Open House Activities

• Tour the historic former hospital, nurses' quarters, and surgeons' houses, and learn how they have been sustainably transformed into contemporary homes and workplaces.
• San Francisco street food vendors and live music
• EcoVillage showcasing sustainable ideas and non-profit organizations
• Lobos Creek Scenic Overlook
• Fun for kids provided by the Presidio Community YMCA
• Open House at Arion Press
  

For more information and directions visit: http://www.presidio.gov/calendar/ggopresidio.htm

Thoreau Center Film Screening: The Wall

Friday, September 10
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
Pacific Room at Tides, Thoreau Center for Sustainability SF
Presented by Lou Ramirez

Join us for a premiere screening of the San Francisco Film Festival's The Wall, directed by Ricardo A. Martinez.

In 2006, the U.S. Congress passed The Secure Fence Act calling for the construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S./Mexico border. Filmed over two years, The Wall documents the impact of constructing this border fence along the Southwest. From policy makers to citizens of border towns, the debate elevates as residents respond to having a fence built in their backyard. Nobody could have imagined how many problems the fence would create, from an excess of dead bodies to an increase in smuggling costs.

The San Francisco Latino Film Festival runs September 16 through September 28, 2010. Check local listings for screenings and the Cine+Mas website for more information: www.sflatinofilmfestival.com.

Brown Bag events are free informal mid-day learning sessions hosted at Tides. Friends, neighbors and colleagues are welcome. Visitors, please sign in at the front desk.

New Books - August

Just in time for you to plan your Labor Day weekend reading activities, here are some books added to the library collection in the past few months. Not travelling anywhere but want to imagine you are? Try Douglas H. Chadwick's Yellowstone to Yukon: a portrait of a 500,000 square mile region spanning from the U.S. to northern Canada with one of the most remarkable collections of wildlife in the world that is facing increasing challenges from an expanding human presence.

Also consider the books below, and don't forget to peruse our catalog at library.thoreau.org.

Tyche Hendricks. The Wind Doesn't Need a Passport: Stories from the U.S. - Mexico Borderlands. (2010)

Tyche Hendricks is an editor for The California Report on KQED Public Radio, and she reported on immigration and immigrant communities at the San Francisco Chronicle for many years. For this book, she traveled throughout the U.S.-Mexico border region, talking to cowboys, environmentalists, nurses, nuns, factory workers, and other ordinary people who live and work in this dynamic, complex, often misunderstood area. They share a deep sense of their history and culture, and their stories bring to life and bring understanding to heatedly debated issues of immigration, drug violence, trade, manufacturing, and more.

Peter H. Gleick. Bottled & Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. (2010)

Thirty billion plastic bottle of water are sold in a year in the United States alone, while billions of people around the world still lack access to safe water and sanitation. Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, examines the reasons behind the explosive worldwide growth of the bottled water industry in recent years and what it means for the future of drinking water, society, and the environment.

Julian Crandall Hollick. Ganga: A Journey Down the Ganges River. (2007)

Running from high in the Himalayas, through northern India, down to the sea, the Ganges for millions of Indians is not just a river but also a goddess. Hollick travels its length, exploring its mythology, ecology, economy, and the lives of the people who live along it, portraying a paradoxical relationship in which religious devotion goes hand in hand with increased ecological degradation and economic exploitation.

Cristina Eisenberg. The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity. (2010)

Based on her fieldwork with wolves and on research findings by other scientists around the world in recent decades, Eisenberg surveys the latest thinking on trophic cascades, or the effects created in an ecosystem when top-level predators or other keystone species are removed. Examples from Yellowstone, the Aleutian Islands, Amazon rain forests, and coral reefs show how such effects can be complex, wide-ranging, and unexpected with potentially catastrophic implications for local biodiversity. She also looks at how resource managers are using this knowledge to guide ecosystem recovery, including how it could be applied to move forward a vision of rewilding the North American continent.

Lane H. Kendig with Bret C. Keast. Community Character: Principles for Design and Planning. (2010)

The character of a community is what makes it unique, livable, and inviting. These elements can be difficult to define, yet are often what people want to preserve or to create when planning. Moving beyond simplistic measures of density and land use, the authors here provide a comprehensive system for planning and zoning communities that incorporates a wide range of measures to define character and that reflects the complexity of the interaction of the built environment with its social and economic functions.

Joe Romm. Straight Up: America's Fiercest Climate Blogger Takes on the Status Quo Media, Politicians, and Clean Energy Solutions. (2010)

Climate expert, physicist, former official in the U.S. Department of Energy, and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Joe Romm draws from his influential blog, ClimateProgress.org, to discuss climate science, clean energy solutions, global warming politics, and how the mainstream media have failed in their coverage of these issues. Proposing technological and other measures to reach a low-carbon, low-oil, low-net-material use economy, he argues that any efforts to avert catastrophic global warming will ultimately require citizen action to bring public pressure to bear on governments that have historically been reluctant to act.

Thoreau Center Brown Bag: Environmental Activism in China

August 23, 2010
12:30pm - 1:30pm
Atlantic Room at Tides, Thoreau Center for Sustainability

Green Camel Bell is a rare, officially registered grassroots environmental NGO in China. The scope of their work covers the entire Gansu Province and parts of Western China, and they are a very inspiring and effective organization. The founder of Green Camel Bell, Zhao Zhong was named Hero of the Environment in 2009 by Time for their work protecting the Yellow River. The organization has received numerous awards for their conservation work, which includes environmental education, river protection, eco-farming, promoting green commuting, earthquake reconstruction, and much more.

Ran Liping, GCB's Program officer, will give a presentation on their programs, their successful cases, and the challenges of doing of environmental work in China and in its western region specifically. She will give people an overview of environmental activism in China and also of her work with communities fighting water pollution in Gansu. After her presentation, it's Q&A and open discussion.

Brown Bag events are free informal mid-day learning sessions hosted at Tides. Friends, neighbors and colleagues are welcome. Visitors, please sign in at the front desk.