50 Shades of Grey kept out of Harford County, MD public library

31. May 2012 · Comments Off on 50 Shades of Grey kept out of Harford County, MD public library · Categories: Uncategorized

Here is an article in the Baltimore Sun by Mary Carole McCauley (dated May 31, 2012)  concerning the decision by the Harford County (Maryland) public library to not stock the book 50 Shades of Grey and its sequels.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-banned-book-20120530,0,1653381.story?page=1

 

Baltimore Raven Michael Oher’s Book Discussion Visit

17. May 2012 · Comments Off on Baltimore Raven Michael Oher’s Book Discussion Visit · Categories: Uncategorized

A few weeks back I caught a short segment on the Baltimore metro area evening television news about Baltimore Raven, Michael Oher, and his book entitled I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond. It turns out that Oher made a personal visit to Severna Park High School in April 2012 to participate in a discussion about his book with students and faculty.

My hat is off to librarian Marianne Fitzgerald who selected the book to be part of the school’s 2012 “1 Book 1 School 1 Star” initiative and who helped facilitate the book club discussion.

See http://www.aacps.org/admin/anmviewer.asp?a=1478&z=62 for details.

I hope that public libraries in the Baltimore area are taking note of this and would consider holding book discussions about I Beat the Odds. Perhaps they could even invite Oher to make a visit to their libraries to help hold the discussion. I believe that such an effort would be a great way to get patrons excited about their local library system.