Wiccans defend Harry Potter in GA.

I'm just glad to know that no matter where you live, the local news is always wicked goony.  Awesome.

If the video doesn't work for you, the text is here.

In related news, Superintendent Donald Ford of Harrisonburg, Virginia recently ordered the high school library to dismantle their Banned Books display, because he didn't want to "encourage students to read banned books because they are on a controversial list and not because of their content".

Gosh.  And I thought libraries were supposed to encourage reading, period.  I had NO IDEA that we were only supposed to encourage reading for CONTENT.

Pthbbbbbbbbbbbbbt.

Comments

[Catherine]

Wow.

I live really close to Harrisonburg.

That really pisses me off. What is the big deal?

closed-minded idiots.

[Catherine]

it's like these people are communists.

[Jackie]

I like the bit where he makes the book float. That HAD to piss people off!

[Tom]

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make with the HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY story. Are you saying that schools should encourage 13 year olds to read books with offensive language and explicit sex scenes?

[Leila]

I wasn't trying to make much of a point, Tom. It just seemed rather ironic to me that the Super. ordered the library to dismantle a display about Banned Books during Banned Books Week.

The display that was dismantled (from the article) "included "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain; "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury; "The Diary of Ann Frank," and "The Bible.""

High School isn't just for thirteen-year-olds -- there's a range of students, up until (at least) age eighteen. Do you think that a library that serves that population should only carry books that are "appropriate" for thirteen-year-olds?

[Tom]

"The display that was dismantled (from the article) "included "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain; "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury; "The Diary of Ann Frank," and "The Bible.""

But we don't know what else was in the display, do we? In fact, the article states quite clearly, "School administrators would not release a complete list of the books in the display."

"Do you think that a library that serves that population should only carry books that are "appropriate" for thirteen-year-olds?"

An interesting question. Do you think the high school library should carry Playboy magazine?

[Leila]

No, there wasn't an entire list of books -- the rest of the books were probably well-known (to the YA-reading crowd) and often-challenged books like Crutcher's Whale Talk, Levithan's Boy Meets Boy, Cormier's The Chocolate War, Rowling's Harry Potter, and Hartinger's Geography Club. I doubt that there's some grand conspiracy to hide the Big Sex books that the librarians were actually trying to promote.

Playboy? Also an interesting question. (Except not really, because it falls into the same category as the Penthouse Letters suggestion. It's a straw man argument.)

But you didn't answer mine.

I really doubt that we're going to come to any sort of agreement here.