Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
September 22, 2000

Banned Book Week features readings

by Steve Sullivan
Public readings and a discussion of the merits of Harry Potter will highlight Banned Book Week Sept. 23-30.

The wildly popular Harry Potter books will be the topic of a roundtable discussion at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Kimbra Wilder Gish, a Tennessee librarian and critic of the Harry Potter series, will give a brief presentation on her article, "Hunting Down Harry Potter: An Exploration of Religious Concerns About Children's Literature."

A discussion will follow with Carol Elbert, Ames Public Library; Bernie Hawley, Mitchell Elementary School (Ames); and Carol Fuhler, curriculum and instruction. Jane Cox, theater, will read from the Harry Potter books.

The ISU Library and the Ames Public Library will sponsor a Banned Book Week Readathon featuring students, faculty and staff reading from various publications that have faced censorship. Readathon 2000 will be noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Memorial Union Campanile Room. Each reading will last approximately five minutes.

Readers and their books include: Richard Seagrave, interim president, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; Olivia Madison, Library Services, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Gina Millsap, Ames Public Library, Where the Sidewalk Ends; Nathan Ashmore, ISU/ACLU Chapter, Howl; Nancy Bevin, Women's Center, To Kill a Mockingbird; Dianne Bystrom, Catt Center for Women and Politics, The Handmaid's Tale; Ben Golding, Government of the Student Body (title to be announced); Jeremy Hayes, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Ally Alliance, Daddy's Roommate; Tom Hill, student affairs, Black Boy; Jeffery Johnson, ISU Alumni Association, Nappy Hair; Barbara Mack, journalism and mass communication, Lysistrata; Debra Marquart, English, Tropic of Cancer; and Herman Quirmbach, economics, ISU and the Censorship of Oleomargarine.

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Revised 9/20/00