The library is currently open Monday through Friday from 10:00am-5:30pm and Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm. The Children's Room and Archives are open by appointment. Please call for details: 207-582-3312.

Celebrate Banned Books

Banned Books Week (September 27 – October 3, 2020) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. (ALA)

How did Banned Book Week Start?

Banned Books Week was launched in the 1980s, a time of increased challenges, organized protests, and the Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case, which ruled that school officials can’t ban books in libraries simply because of their content.

Banned books were showcased at the 1982 American Booksellers Association (ABA) BookExpo America trade show in Anaheim, California. At the entrance to the convention center towered large, padlocked metal cages, with some 500 challenged books stacked inside and a large overhead sign cautioning that some people considered these books dangerous.

Drawing on the success of the exhibit, ABA invited OIF Director Judith Krug to join a new initiative called Banned Books Week, along with the National Association of College Stores. The three organizations scrambled to put something together by the September show date and ended up distributing a news release and a publicity kit, hoping that with their combined membership of 50,000 people, they could continue to spark a conversation about banned books.

The initiative took off. Institutions and stores hosted read-outs, and window displays morphed into literary graveyards or mysterious collections of brown-bagged books. Major news outlets such as PBS and the New York Times covered the event, and mayors and governors issued proclamations affirming the week. (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned)

Here is a small sample of some of the top Novels of the 20th Century that have been challenged, removed, banned, or burned.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Reason: “Coarse language, racial stereotypes and use of racial slurs.”

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Reason: “profanity, offensive and obscene passages referring to abortion, and used God’s name in vain.”

 Beloved by Toni Morrison

Reason: “depicted the inappropriate topics of sex, bestiality, and racism.”

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Reason: “themes of Communism, racism and atheism.”

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Reason: “obscenity and vulgarity, racism, and anti-religion, anti-family, and blasphemous content.”

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Reason: “Themes of homosexuality, alcoholism, infidelity.”

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Reason: “”anti-white, profanity, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and dealings with the occult.”

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Reason: “Reasons: profanity, descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct, and torture, and negative images of black men.”

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Reason: “Obscene language, references to smoking and drinking, violence, and religious themes.”

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Reason: “violence, sexually explicit material, infanticide, euthanasia, occult related themes, and usage of mind control, selective breeding, and the eradication of the old and young when they are weak, feeble and of no more use.”

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Reason; “recurring themes of rape, masturbation, violence, and degrading treatment of women.”

The Grapes of Wrath  by John Steinbeck

Reason: “book uses the name of God and Jesus in a “vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references.”

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reason: “reference to drugs, sexuality, and profanity”

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Reasons “homosexuality, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group”

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Reason: “Violence, sexual content, and obscene language.”

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Reason: “profanity and images of violence and sexuality.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Reason:  profanity, contains adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, and incest, use of racial slurs promotes racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy.”

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Reason: “profanity, sexuality, racial slurs, and excessive violence.”

Native Son by Richard Wright

Reason: “profanity, violence, explicit sexual content.”

1984 by George Orwell

Reason “Reason: pro-communism ideas, explicit sexual matter.”

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Reason: “blasphemous, offensive language, racism, violence, and sexual overtones.”

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Reason: “offensive and obscene passages referring to abortion and used God’s name in vain.”

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Reason: “depictions of torture, ethnic slurs, and negative portrayals of women.”

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Reason: “profanity and sexual explicitness.”

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Reason: “Misogyny, encouraging disobedience, violence, animal cruelty, obscene language, and supernatural themes.”

For a more in-depth list visit: LibraryThing Book Awards : Radcliffe Publishing Course top 100 of the 20th Century

Did any of the books on this list surprise you?

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned

Just for fun, here are a few banned book themed word searches!

New Items ~ October 2020

FICTION

All the devils are here by Louise Penny.  Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec investigates a sinister plot in the City of Light.

Bear necessity by James Gould-Bourne.  A feel-good story about coping with grief that focuses on the love between a dad and his son and how it can lead to friendship.

Before she was Helen by Caroline Cooney.  Clemmie is a 70something, semi-retired Latin teacher, a spinster living in a somnolent Florida retirement community.  But there must be more to her.  Why else is she rattled when she learns that a cold case is coming back to life?

Cactus Jack by Brad Smith.  A 30something single woman, the untried colt she inherits, a horse crazy little girl, and their band of misfits and has-beens stick it to the establishment in the cut-throat world of horse racing.

Celine by Peter Heller.  She is nearly 70, has emphysema from years as a smoker, and she’s never too far from her oxygen tank.  She’s a blue blood and a sculptor.  She’s also a private eye in this smart, comic mystery.

Dear Ann by Bobbie Ann Mason.  A meditation on one woman’s life choices and the road she didn’t take.

Death at high tide by Hannah Dennison.  Two sisters inherit an old hotel in the remote Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall and find it full of intrigue, danger, and romance.

The exiles by Christina Baker Kline.  Three young women are sent to the fledgling British penal colony of Australia in the 1840s.

Fast girls by Elise Hooper.  This celebrates three unheralded female athletes in a tale spanning three Olympiads.

The haunted lady by Mary Roberts Rinehart.  Someone’s trying to kill the head of the Fairbanks estate, and only her nurse can protect her.  A superior example of the plucky-heroine-in-an-old-dark-house school.

His and hers by Alice Feeney.  A brilliant cat-and-mouse game.  There are two sides to every story:  yours and mine, ours and theirs, his and hers.  Which means someone is always lying.

The killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah.  Lovers of classic whodunits will hope that the author will continue to offer her take on the great Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

The lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.  When rarities disappear, a curator at the New York Public Library, who grapples with her grandmother’s legacy, uncovers new truths about her family heritage.

The lying life of adults by Elena Ferrante.  In this coming-of-age story, Giovanna seeks her true reflection in tow kindred cities.

The new American by Micheline Marcom.  The epic journey of a young Guatemalan American student, a “dreamer”, who gets deported and decides to make his way back home to California.

The new wilderness by Diane Cook.  This explores a moving mother-daughter relationship in a world ravaged by climate change and overpopulation.

One by one by Ruth Ware.  Ware does what she does best – gives us a familiar locked-door mystery setup and lets the tension and suspicion marinate until they reach fever pitch.

Payback by Mary Gordon.  A novel of lifelong reckoning between two women.  It contrasts the 1970s world of upper-class women’s education with the #MeToo era.

Royal by Danielle Steel.  In 1943, the 17 year old Princess Charlotte assumes a new identity in the country and falls in love.

Shadows in death by J.D. Robb.  Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past….

Someone to romance by Mary Balogh.  Pitch-perfect – a riveting, fast-paced narrative.  Regency fans will be delighted.

Squeeze me by Carl Hiaasen.  A dead dowager, hungry pythons, and occupants of the winter White House shake up the Palm Beach charity ball season.

Thick as thieves by Sandra Brown.  Arden Maxwell returns home to uncover the truth about her father’s involvement in a heist that went wrong 20 years ago.

Troubled blood by Robert Galbraith.  Private detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwell when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974.

NEW DVDs

A simple favor (2018) starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively

Q: the winged serpent (1982) starring Michael Moriarty and Candy Clark

Dead of night (1945) starring Michael Redgrave

Hester Street (1975) starring Carol Kane and Steven Keats

The private life of Henry VIII (1933) starring Charles Laughton

NEW MUSIC CDs

Rough and rowdy ways by Bob Dylan

Gaslighter by Dixie Chicks

100 hits: the best 70s album

Ultimate Grammy Collection: Classic Country

NONFICTION

The beauty of living by J. Alison Rosenblitt.  Focusing on a brief period in the life of poet E.E. Cummings, notably his WW I experiences as a POW and ambulance driver, this sheds new light.  The horrors of gas warfare, mass slaughter, and illness bring new life to the American poet’s work.

A better man by Michael Black.  A radical plea for rethinking masculinity and teaching young men to give and receive love.

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.  The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

The detective in the dooryard by Timothy Cotton.  Stories about the people, places and things of Maine.  There are sad stories, big events, and even the very mundane, all told from the perspective of a seasoned police officer and in the wry voice of a lifelong Mainer.

Disloyal by Michael Cohen.  An account of being on the inside of Donald Trump’s world from his former personal attorney.

The dynasty by Jeff Benedict.  The history of the New England Patriots from NFL laughingstock to making 10 trips to the Super Bowl.

Faith instinct by Nicholas Wade.  How religion evolved and why it endures.

How we live now by Bill Hayes.  A poignant and profound tribute in stories and images to a city (NYC) amidst a pandemic.  The photos serve as potent documentation of an unprecedented time.

Kent State: four dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf.  A graphic novel telling of the day America turned guns on its own children: a shocking event burned into our national memory.

A Libertarian walks into a bear by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling.  Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government in 2004.  They set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road.  They overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears.

Looking for Miss America by Margot Mifflin.  A lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandals – and how the pageant, near its one hundredth anniversary, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress.

Mill Town by Kerri Arsenault.  The author writes of her hometown – Mexico, Maine.  This is an American story, a human predicament, and a moral wake-up call that asks:  what are we willing to tolerate and whose lives are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?

Rage by Bob Woodward.  Interviews with firsthand sources provide details about Trump’s moves as he faced a global pandemic, economic disaster, and racial unrest.

The ultimate retirement guide for 50+ by Suze Orman.  Winning strategies to make your money last a lifetime.

What it’s like to be a bird by David Sibley.  From flying to nesting, eating to singing – what birds are doing and why.

 

Notes from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, and New York Times Book Review.

 

Home Schooling Information

Homeschooling vs. Distance-Learning

Though homeschooling and online schooling have similarities, and many people tend use these terms interchangeably, there are certainly some differences between the two.

Homeschooling is when a parent or other caregiver is physically present in the home and actively teaching the student. It is home education and the biggest difference is that the caregiver is the full-time instructor/primary educator.

Distance learning, also known as online schooling, is any form of remote learning where the student is not present at school but is being taught through communication with the school/teacher. With this type of learning students are asked to complete work that is similar to the work they do in the classroom. Students are expected to check-in with their teacher, complete structured assignments, and continue to meet learning objectives.

Homeschooling is regulated by the state rather than the federal government; this means that laws and regulations differ from state-to-state. You will need to look at the laws and regulations specific to Maine. Please visit the Maine’s Department of Education website.

How to Start Homeschooling in Maine

The steps to start homeschooling in Maine are the following:

1. File a written notice of intent to homeschool with your local school Superintendent. This notice of intent is a one-time thing, and must include the following information:

    1. The name, address, and signature of the parents (or guardian.)
    2. The student’s name and age.
    3. The date that home schooling will begin.
    4. A statement that says the parent/guardian will provide their student with at least 175 days of instruction per year.
    5. A statement that says the parent/guardian will cover the required subjects. (See below)
    6. A statement that says the parent/guardian will perform and submit a year-end assessment for each student. (See below)
    7. Keep a copy of this notice in your personal records. It must be available for view if the commissioner of education requests to see it.

The Notice of Intent form can be submitted in 2 ways :

a.) Manually – Print, fill out, and send (or drop off) a signed copy to your local Superintendent or the Home Instruction Consultant:

RSU 11/MSAD 11 Superintendent Details:

Name: Patricia Hopkins

Address: 150 Highland Ave.

Gardiner, ME 04345

Phone: (207) 582-5346

Fax: (207) 583-8305

Email: phopkins@msad11.org

(If your school is not part of RSU 11/MSAD 11 you can look up your superintendent information here: https://neo.maine.gov/DOE/neo/Supersearch/Supersearch/Town)

Home Instruction Consultant,

Maine Department of Education

23 State House Station, Augusta, ME – 04333

Printable Form: https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/homeinstruction-noticeofintent2019final_0.pdf

OR

b.) Electronically – Fill out and submit the form online

Online form: https://neo.maine.gov/DOE/neo/StudentData/HomeSchools/Schools/ParentGuardianForm?class=Custom

Each year thereafter, you will need to send a letter to the local school superintendent by September 1 which includes the following: a. a copy of the student’s year-end assessment, and b. a statement that you intend to continue homeschooling. Maine law dictates that a copy of the student’s year-end assessment, and the annual statement that you intend to continue homeschooling.be kept in your personal records.  It must be available for view if the commissioner of education requests to see it.

2(e). Teach the required subjects.

You must teach all of the following subjects:

Computer Proficiency (one time class to be taught between grades 7 and 12)

English and Language Arts

Fine Arts

Library Skills

Maine Studies (One time class to be taught between grades 6 and 12)

Math

Physical Education and Health

Science

Social Studies

3(f). Submit a year-end assessment.

For your child’s year-end assessment, you can:

1.) Submit the official results of any national standardized achievement test.

2.) Submit the results of a test developed by local school officials.

3.) Submit a review and acceptance of progress letter by: 1.)  a Maine certified teacher; 2.) a homeschool support group that includes a Maine certified teacher or administrator who has reviewed a portfolio of the student’s work; or 3.) a local advisory board appointed by the superintendent composed of two homeschool teachers and one school official (this must be arranged with the school district before the school year starts).

For more information please visit the Maine’s Department of Education website: https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/schoolops/homeinstruction/requirements

We’ve built a small collection of the most highly utilized or highly reviewed free and paid educational resources for homeschooling and/or supplemental learning.

FREE HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCES

A2Z Homeschooling:

The A2Z Homeschooling website has rounded up a large collection of free: websites, videos, games, printables, projects, field trips and more that cover language arts, math, social studies, science, fine arts, health & fitness, foreign languages, and computer literacy to help make homeschooling easier, cheaper, and fun.

Website: A2Z Homeschooling

 AmblesideOnline:

AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason’s classically-based principles. AO’s detailed schedules, time-tested methods, and extensive teacher resources allow parents to focus effectively on the unique needs of each child

Website: Ambleside Online

The Big History Project:

The Big History Project is a free, online social studies course for middle- and high-school students. Run the course over a full year or semester, or adapt it to your child’s needs. Use teacher-generated lessons or create your own using the content library. Everything is online, so content is always available, up to date, and easy to download. The Big History Project helps users meet Common Core ELA standards from the ground up, starting with the learning outcomes, and including assessment and lesson activities.

Website: The Big History Project

Chrome Music Lab

Chrome Music Lab is a website that makes learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments. Educators are able to use Chrome Music Lab as a tool to explore music and its connections to science, math, art, and more.

Website: Chrome Music Lab

CK-12

CK-12 is committed to providing free access to open-source content and technology tools that empower students as well as teachers to enhance and experiment with different learning styles, resources, levels of competence, and circumstances.

Website: CK12

Core Knowledge:

The Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™ provides comprehensive, content-rich learning materials based on the Core Knowledge Sequence. Student readers, teacher guides, activity books, and other materials are available for Language Arts and History and Geography.

Website: Core Knowledge

Discovery K12:

Discovery K12 Offers a free non-Common Core, traditional, secular curriculum that integrates STEM and the Arts without the use of any textbooks and requires no lesson planning for grades K-12. Their lessons cover 7 standard subjects including Reading/Literature, Language Arts, Math, History/Social Studies, Science, Visual/Performing Arts and Physical Education, and their Extra Curriculum includes Spanish 1, HTML Coding, Healthy Living, Personal Finance, Business Apps, and Business 101. (*There is the option of creating a teacher/parent account for $99 per year, however it is not required.)

Website: Discovery K12

Easy Peasy:

Easy Peasy is an all-in-one elementary homeschool curriculum’s lesson plan/printables website. Easy Peasy uses only free resources to cover reading, writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, math, history/social studies/geography, science, Spanish, computer, music, art, PE/health, and logic.

Website: Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool

Funbrain:

Funbrain is a site created for kids in grades Pre-K through 8, Funbrain.com has been the leader in free educational games for kids since 1997, offering hundreds of games, books, comics, and videos that develop skills in math, reading, problem-solving and literacy

Website: Funbrain

HippoCampus

HippoCampus.org is a core academic website that delivers rich multimedia content–videos, animations, and simulations–on general education subjects free of charge to students in middle-school and high-school. While HippoCampus is not a credit-granting organization, and therefore does not monitor, grade, or give transcripts to anyone using the site, it is still used by many home schooling families as content to supplement or guide their home curriculum. – The website covers subjects such as Math, Natural Science, Social Science, and Humanities.

Website: HippoCampus

Home Educator:

There are hundreds of free government resources that homeschoolers can take advantage for lesson plans, activities and more The Home Educator website has broken down resources by grade levels and categories that include health, biology/nature, earth science, astronomy, economics, American government/history, fine arts, and more.

Website: HomeEducator

Homeschool Buyers Co-Op

The Homeschool Buyers Co-Op website has put together a database of free curriculum and other educational resources such as websites, videos, games, printables, projects, online interactive lessons, and virtual tours. These curriculum/resources include the subjects of language arts, math, social studies, history, science, art, and music.

Website: Home School Buyer Co-Op

Khan Academy:

Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, and more, including K-14 and test preparation (SAT, Praxis, LSAT) content.

Website: Khan Academy

Maine Connections Academy

Maine Connections Academy is the state’s first virtual public charter school for students grades 7-12. The program combines certified teachers, an award-winning curriculum, technology tools, engaging electives, and social experiences to create a supportive and successful online learning program for students and their families. As a public school there are no fees to attend, no tuition charges and no materials fees. MCA virtual school classes meet and exceed all national and state standards.

Website: Maine Connections Academy

PBS LearningMedia:

Maine PBS and WGBH have partnered to create PBS LearningMedia, a trusted source for PreK-12 classroom resources. It offers free and easy access to thousands of lesson plans, videos, interactives, and curated content collections to help you create one-of-a kind learning experiences for your students. Browse by age/grade, subject, and resource type.

Website: PBS Learning Media

SAS Curriculum Pathways

SAS Curriculum Pathways is available at no cost and used by thousands of educators in all 50 states. SAS Curriculum Pathways provides academic instruction of English, mathematics, social studies, science and Spanish. Social studies materials include an interactive atlas. In math, an interactive tool helps students develop basic algebra skills. Enhancements to the award-winning Writing Reviser in the English module help students master sentence fundamentals. Spanish materials help students develop reading and listening skills in real-world situations.

Website: Curriculum Pathways

Sheppard Software

The Sheppard Software website has hundreds of free, online, learning games (solitaire, brain teasers, puzzles, memory/matching games, etc.) for kids in a variety of subjects such as: math, science, language arts, health, nature/animals, geography, and more.

Website: Sheppard Software

Smithsonian Learning Lab:

The Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, 9 major research centers, the National Zoo, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian’s expansive community of knowledge and learning.

Website: Smithsonian Learning Lab

Starfall Education

Starfall Education offers activities for kids in pre-k through 3rd grade.Starfall activities are research-based and align with Individual and Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics. The program emphasizes exploration, play, and positive reinforcement—encouraging children to become confident and intrinsically motivated. (*There is the option of creating a $35 annual membership provides additional activities, however it is not required.)

Website: Starfall

WeAreTeachers

The WeAreTeachers website that has tons of resources for learning at home. The website will point users in the direction of fun websites, games, apps, virtual field trips, and hands-on activities to assist and extend the distance learning for student’s K-5. (*The website also provides a list of Children’s Authors doing online read-alouds & activities. You can view their list here: We Are Teachers Virtual Author Activities)

Website at: We Are Teachers

PAID HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCES

edHelper

Pre K – 6th $19.99 per year

8th – High school, and/or Special education materials $39.98 per year.

edHelper is an online subscription service that provides printable worksheets for teachers and homeschooling parents. edHelper offers a wide range of materials, including math, language arts, reading and writing, social studies, science, foreign language and more.

Website: Edhelper

Education.com

$15.99 per month or $119.88 per year.

Education.com caters to grades K-5 and has 30,000+ digital and printable learning resources. The websites offers both digital and printable worksheets and workbooks, digital games, interactive stories, lesson plans, weekly recommendations, and more.

(There is a Basic (free) membership allows users to access three free content downloads each month.)

Website: Education.com

Power Homeschool Services

$25 a month – 7 courses

Power Homeschool is a program intended to aid parents in homeschooling their student. Power Homeschool course materials are standards-based and provide a full online learning experience in each subject area. Each student may take up to seven courses simultaneously and the selection of courses may be adjusted at any time. Power Homeschool allows students to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. When a student struggles, the system provides additional instruction and practice as needed.

Website: Power Homeschool Services

Time4Learning

Pre K – 8th $19.95 per month / Highschool $30 per month

Time4Learning is an online, interactive curriculum for students in PreK-12th for homeschool, afterschool, and skill building. Time4Learning’s award-winning, comprehensive program offers a variety of math, language arts, science, social studies, electives, and foreign language through a combination of a 1000+ animated lessons, printable worksheets and graded activities.

Website: Time 4 Learning

******

Some of our recent family friendly and educational blogs are linked below.

Virtual tours of: Museums, Zoos, Aquariums, National Parks, Historical Places/Landmarks, NASA Research Centers, and more!

Outdoor/Animal Webcams of Wildlife, Farm Life, Zoo Life, Iconic Landmarks, Lake Life, Ocean/ Sea Life, and more.

Apps for learning about: Wildlife, Birds, Bugs, Trees, Flowers/Mushrooms, Weather, The Night Sky and more.

As well as educational (and/or entertaining) apps and streaming services for both children and adults.

The Great Outdoors

Bring The Outdoors In

Looking For Something To Do