The Journal

Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Laila Wessel Associate professor in the Department of Education Carol Hoyt (left), and Assistant Librarian Ellen Eliceiri discuss the issues concerning banned books from their individual perspectives at the Brown Bag lecture, "Free People Read Freely," Sept. 26 in the Library Conference room.

Banned Books Week is Sept. 29 - Oct. 6 and 2007 is the 26th anniversary of Banned Books Week. Webster University held a Brown Bag lecture series on banned books Wed. Sept. 26 in the Emerson Library Conference Room to raise awareness on banned and challenged books. Ellen Eliceiri, Head of Reference Services and Collection Development at Emerson Library, and Dr. Carol Hoyt, associate professor in the department of Teacher Education presented the lecture on banned books titled "Free People Read Freely."

Hoyt gave advice to those who will be faced with persons or groups who object to certain reading materials and said that as a teacher, one must look at the merit of books that deal with controversial material and decide whether the book as a whole is valuable enough to assign even if some of the material may be considered questionable or offensive to some. Hoyt said when teaching with controversial books, a teacher must evaluate him or herself.

"Find out what's appropriate, what's normal and compare that with the community in which you teach," Hoyt said.

Hoyt also recommended examining one's own perceptions of offensive material and determining what an educator's role is as a sensor of prospective material. She advised teachers to carefully consider the books they assign and to be prepared to defend their choices to those who want the books banned.

Maxine Bauermeister, professor of early childhood education at Webster attended the lecture and said that students should be included in the decision process of who decides they read.

"Students interpret the situations discussed in books through their own lens and that helps them to learn what is and is not acceptable to them," Bauermeister said. "Controversial topics encourage students to be critical readers - to think about what they are reading.

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