We’re having a party at the Main Street Library to celebrate the building’s 40th birthday.  Come to the library (at 321 North Main Street in downtown Davenport) for our Ruby Renaissance, a family-friendly festival, featuring a troupe of magicians headed by master-of-mayhem Rick Eugene, a balloon-animal artist, music with Ellis Kell, a charicature artist, crafts, free food and fun!  The party kicks off at 1:00 pm and lasts until 4:00 pm, so drop by some time to see us. 

The library building was designed by renowned architect Edward Durrell Stone.  The next building that Stone designed was the world-famous Kennedy Center in Washington D.c.  Compare the two buildings and you would almost say that our downtown library building is the baby version of the Kennedy Center.  Check ‘em out:

Davenport Public Library (built 1968): 

Kennedy Center (built 1971):

Davenport is fortunate to have such an important piece of architecture, so come downtown today to have a look!  And while you’re checking out the building, check out some great books, CDs and DVDs, watch a magician perform some tricks, get yourself a balloon poodle, listen to some great tunes courtesy of Ellis Kell and have some punch.  Good times at the Davenport Public Library!

Here’s a question for you. Should a book be banned, ever? Like any other discussion, there has to be more than one side to the argument, especially when you’re talking about children’s books. Of course you don’t want your first grader reading books about sex and drugs (maybe rock ‘n roll will fly – depending on your musical taste, though!)  But should a questionable book actually be taken off the shelves?  In a school library the answer might actually be yes – maybe some books should never make it to the shelves in the first place, since in a school library kids have free access to materials without the guidance of their parents. 

But what about a public library?  Since parents have the ultimate responsibility to choose appropriate materials for their children — should a book ever be banned from a public library?  If yes, who should make that decision?  Should your librarian be the one to decide what is appropriate for your first grader to read?  The library director? A book editor in New York making the decision of what your child reads here in Iowa?  Your neighbor?  Your local politicians? 

If your answer is no, should placement of the book be the answer? Would a better home for a questionable title be the teen area? Or possibly the adult area? Or would it matter where it was located since your child’s library card can check out any material in the library? Should all the books in the library be appropriate for first graders?

We’d love to hear your input on the topic – let us know what you — as a Davenport parent or student — feel about banned books – whether in your school or public library.

You’d have to be living in a cave or a submarine to never have heard of Harry Potter.  The wildly popular series penned by J.K. Rowling has been one of the best selling children’s books of all time, selling more than 400 million copies and setting records as some of the fastest selling books in history.  And it’s no surprise.  Rowling’s story of a young orphan boy discovering his true powers and eventually overcoming the greatest evil is tremendously engaging — so engaging that young readers are not troubled by the fact that some of the installments clock in at more than 800 pages.   The series seems to have freed other children’s authors to write longer and more complex stories, and has changed the faced of children’s literature immeasurably.

Of course, I wouldn’t be writing about Harry Potter during Banned Books Week if there weren’t some controversy to consider.  And this series seems to have created the grand-daddy of all controversies, inspiring not just book bannings, but actual book burnings.    The books have been burned in formalized events in states as diverse as Michigan, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.  Even people in nearby Cedar Rapids almost got into the act; in 2004, the Jesus Church tried to organize a book burning but were prevented by local fire ordinances.  Why all the hubbub, you may be wondering.  Well, some folks feel like the series promotes witchcraft and unchristian activities.

I have a harder time comprehending this complaint than I do most.  I try to see things from both sides, but for the HP series, I think the book-banners are missing the point.  Harry Potter is a struggle between good and evil, just like the Bible.  And in Harry Potter, good triumphs over evil, just like the Bible.  So please don’t worry that your kids are going to be converted into witches if they read Harry Potter.  Give your kids some credit!  They are smart enough to know fact from fiction, and after reading Harry Potter they are a million times more likely to ask for another great story to read than to ask for a non-fiction book about spells and potions.