Part of the festivities celebrating the bicentenary of the death of Marquis de Sade is an exhibit at the L’ Institut des Lettres et Manuscrits in Paris featuring the original manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom. Regarded by Sade as his magnum opus, The 120 Days of Sodom also known as The School of Libertinism, was written by Sade in the space of thirty-seven days in 1785 while imprisoned. The production, construction and preservation of the manuscript is itself an epic tale. Sade wrote for 3 hours each evening, copying his drafts on strips of paper 11" wide, he then glued them together to...
After years of military rule books and hope are returning to Myanmar
After decades of repression and censorship the people of Myanmar are getting their books and libraries back! Since the military leadership lost power in 2011, the country has developed a network of mobile libraries to compensate for the vast network of public libraries that are in various states of disarray. Through the non-profit Daw Khin Kyi Foundation foundation, created by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and new leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, resources are being harnessed "to promote health, education and living standards". As you can imagine, little energy went to the development or care of the library system during military rule. The libraries were...
Women charged with arson for torching books at Tacoma library
She was a regular patron who was at the central branch of the Tacoma Public Library "virtually every day" with no history of trouble but on Saturday all that changed when she set fire to a shelf of books in the American History section. 250 people were evacuated. The suspect "admitted she had an issue with a library worker earlier in the day and admitted to wanting to burn down the library." And the books she chose to start the fire? Biographies of three recent Republican presidents; Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush. The library is scheduled to reopen tomorrow....
Five Book Tribute to Banned Books Week
Banned Books: Informal Notes on Some Books Banned fort Various Reasons at Various Times for Various Reasons by Anne Lyon Haight. R.R. Bowker Company. New York, 1955. Second Edition Revised and Enlarged Buy: Buy: Used copies of the First and Second Edition It is Banned Books Week and here are five titles that deal with the issue as a whole or are dedicated to an individual book. Happy reading! Purity in Print: The Vice Society Movement and Book Censorship in America. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York, 1968. Buy: First Edition, 1968. Second Edition with two new chapters...
Which Banned Book Are You?
In June 2014, the Columbus State Library was one of seven organizations awarded a national grant sponsored by the Freedom to Read Foundation and the Judith F. Krug Memorial fund to help celebrate Banned Books Week. Among the many cool things they have created and developed for the week is this nifty quiz. Now let's play! [playbuzz-item url="http://www.playbuzz.com/columbusstatelibrary10/which-banned-book-are-you"]