Do You Read Banned Books?

We do! Here's a list of some of our favorites:

• Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
• Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
• Forever by Judy Blume
• Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
• What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford

What is a banned book? Every year thousands of bookstores, libraries, and schools face challenges from people who want them to stop making certain books available. The most common reasons are objections to the religious viewpoint presented in the material (examples: Harry Potter, Satanic Verses), language (Catcher in the Rye, Native Son) and sexuality (The Color Purple, Lolita).

During Banned Books Week, September 27 - October 4, libraries celebrate the freedom of authors to write and readers to read what they choose, even if it's unorthodox, unpopular, or offensive to some.

Come into the library to see our Banned Books Week display!

Trouble with WiFi?

We've noticed that some people are having trouble with WiFi in the library because their laptop's browser won't accept the network's attempt to redirect it to the wireless login page. Vista users, especially, may be affected by this problem.

If your computer says it is connected to the wireless network "Parkland," but your browser isn't working, try manually directing your browser to the login page.

Type https://authgw1.parkland.edu into your browser's address bar.

If this works for you, bookmark it for next time!

WiFi Troubleshooting List:

• Network card turned on?
• Does your wireless manager software show a connection to Parkland? (This might be a native Windows application or third party software. Make sure you understand what software is managing your WiFi connection.)
• Is your browser open?
• Is your browser trying to access https://authgw1.parkland.edu?
  

Let's hear from the students...

As we start week five of classes, we'd like to get some feedback from the students. We recently learned that the reason a student hadn't used Parkland's library before was because it was "intimidating."

Have any of you felt the same way? Or is there another reason for not using the Parkland Library?

Please share your comments by clicking the Comment link below this post. (All comments are moderated, so it won't show up immediately.)

We hope to hear from you,

Frank Blair, Access Services

The author is coming! The author is coming!

Elizabeth Royte, the author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, will be at Champaign Public Library on Wednesday, October 15 and Parkland College on Thursday, October 16. For more details, go to www.parklandreads.org.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to begin reading the book! There are copies available for checking out from the library - HD4484.N7 R68 2006, or you can buy the book from Parkland Bookstore, and get a 15% discount.