What happened during Banned Books Week

The Banned Books displays in all three LRCs last week raised lots of interesting questions about why books might be banned and led to further discussions on topics ranging from Hitler to Martin Luther King, to the Qur'an and the Bible. Students couldn't believe the range of books that have been banned over time.

Some students were brave enough to 'liberate' (borrow) books from the LRC displays. We look forward to hearing their views.




Class visit to Banned Books display at Farnham College

At Farnham College four English classes came to see the displays and do the quizzes. This included two A level classes studying political correctness in language, so the theme of banned books tied in well.

Quiz results:

• At Farnham College Deni Wither won the main Banned Book quiz
• Also at Farnham Lily Bohling won the word hunt, finding an amazing 88 words in 'Banned Books'! Although even more amazing was that adding together all words found by students and library staff, the total was 179! (there may even be more...)
• At Guildford College Musaed AlFoudari correctly identified the 10 banned books from the 15 pictured in the quiz (and wins a £10 print voucher)

For those still wondering, the correct answers to the Guildford College quiz were:

Banned:

 

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J K Rowling)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
• The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
• Wild Swans (Jung Chang)
• Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
• And Tango Makes Three (Justin Richardson)
• The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
• Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)

Not Banned:

• The Brutal Art (Jesse Kellerman)
• Women in Love (D H Lawrence)
• Hairy-Scary Monster (Roderick Hunt)
• Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks)
• The Godfather (Mario Puzo)

Warning - Banned Books

As part of Diversity Week, the LRCs are highlighting Banned Books

Come to the LRCs this week (24-28 November) and be amazed at some of the books which have been banned not just in the distant past but also in the present time. Governments, local authorities, schools (and even libraries) in some countries ban books because they are considered to be dangerous from a moral, political or religious viewpoint.

Banned books have ranged from Madame Bovary, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Heart of Darkness, to Lord of the Flies, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Captain Underpants!

However history shows that banning a book is the perfect way to get people reading and discussing it!

Things to do in the LRCs this week:

• Read more about what happened when some books were banned
• Enter the LRC banned book quizes (£10 print voucher prize at Guildford)
• Borrow a banned book from the LRCs and find out how dangerous it is!

Celebrating Diversity Week 2013!

All three Colleges was busy last week celebrating Diversity Week. We hope you had fun... we certainly did and here is what we got up to!

Around the world with your LRCs!

Guildford College LRC

79 Students attended two talks by Bob Thompson 'Developing Education in Africa: experiences of volunteering in South Sudan'

There was good feedback from the talks and the Foundation Degree Early Childhood Studies students hope to make a link with a school in South Sudan.

Farnham College LRC

54 students and staff contributed to the Why I love my Country Display! They covered 21 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Comments included: 

• the fact that many nationalities live in harmony with each other (Malaysia and Nepal) 
• “you can lay on a beach, diving in crystal clear sea water, enjoy the breeze on the mountain top, trek through a rain forest, or shop and party in the City of Malaysia” 
• ”I love the sound of the traffic and how it is still bright at night from the lights of the billboards everywhere” (HK) 
• “Vietnam is where saying “I love you” is impossible, according to the BBC, since we have more than 40 different pronouns to describe the relationships between individual and groups, based on ages and positions.” 
• Nepalese students commented on the beauty of the mountains and fantastic food, but one said that a surprising thing was how there would suddenly be a strike and they would have a day’s holiday. 
•  UK students said they love their freedom of speech, free healthcare and education and several said they love our weather!
• One student was reading the descriptions on the board and realised there was a student in college from her home town in Zimbabwe – she is going to try to make contact...watch this space...

Merrist Wood College LRC

At MW LRC students participated in an Equality and Diversity Treasure Hunt Quiz.

We have also had lots of equality and diversity fiction being borrowed from our displays at all the LRCs if you are interested in borrowing some E&D resources here are our recommended reads and watches!

A selection of Equality & Diversity Resources

available from your LRCs

Annabel by Kathleen Winter

Fiction: about a young hermaphrodite (FC LRC: F WIN)

Britain’s Gay Footballers (dvd) BBC 3

Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin Fashanu, the only ever openly gay British professional, goes on a mission to discover why no gay player has followed in her uncle's boots in over twenty years. (MWLRC: 796.334 BBC)

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Fiction: a murder mystery with the detective, and narrator, Christopher Boone a fifteen year old with Asperger's Syndrome. (All LRCs F HAD) Show More

Show Less

Drawing Autism by Jill Mullin.

A collection of inspirational artwork produced by people with autism. (FC LRC: 709.04 MUL)

Equality and Diversity in Policing by Brian Stout

(MW LRC: 363.2 STO)

Equality and Diversity in the Lifelong Learning Sector 2^nd ed. by Ann Gravells

(GC & MW LRCs: 374.017 GRA)

Finding the Real Me: True Tales of Sex and Gender Diversity by Tracie O’Keefe

(FC & GC LRCs: 306.77 OKE)

Killing Honour by Bali Rai

Fiction: about honour killings and violence towards women. (All LRCs: F RAI)

Milk (dvd) starring Sean Penn

Film: inspiring story of the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America, Harvey Milk. (GC LRC: 791.437 MIL)

Noughts and Crosses Trilogy by Malorie Blackman

Fiction: Against a background of prejudice, distrust and violence a romance builds between, Sephy a cross and Callum a nought. One that is to lead them into terrible danger… (MW LRC F BLA)

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Fiction: A quirky comedy that brings two people with mental health problems, Pat and Tiffany, together. (MW & GC LRC F QUI)

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Fiction: about Jenna who survives a car crash that kills her best friend but leaves her permanently scarred. (GC LRC: F JAR)

Succeeding in College with Asperger Syndrome: a student guide by John Harpur

(FC LRC: 371.90474 HAR)

Untouchable (dvd) starring Francois Cluzet and Omar Sy

Film: a French comedy drama about the friendship between a rich quadriplegic and his Senegalese carer.  (GC & FC LRCs: 791.437 UNT)

Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis

Fiction: Zelah calls herself a “cleanaholic” and through her rituals has found a way to cope with the tragedy in her life. (FC LRC: F CUR)

Warning Banned Books!

To celebrate Equality and Diversity Week 2012 all three LRCs showcased Banned Books!

Banned Books created a stir at all the sites with students getting involved in the quiz as well as discussing the books that were banned and also the issues surrounding the banning of books.

The aim of the quiz was to correctly identify whether the books had been or are currently banned either here in the UK or in another country. We used the following website as a guide to which books were banned and why. We had over 220 entries so a big thank you to everyone who took part!

The winners are: Lorna Taylor (FC), Mo Herbert (MW), Mary Apple Radam (GC).

Here are the answers so you can check which ones you got right:

Birdsong - Not Banned
Women in Love - Not Banned
Hairy Scary Monster - Not Banned
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Banned
Black Beauty - Banned
A Clockwork Orange - Banned
Refugee Boy - Not Banned
Wild Swans - Banned
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Banned
The Perks of being a Wallflower - Banned
The Brutal Art - Not Banned
And Tango Makes Three - Banned
The Da Vinci Code - Banned
The Godfather - Not Banned
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Banned 


Students also submitted comments and reviews of Banned Books -  here are a few along with some pictures of our displays. Enjoy!

Wild Swans by Jung Chang. "It is a brilliant book! So vivid and honest and it's all true. It actually happened that is what is so incredible. I admire these 3 brave women."

"Harry Potter banned in America? Meant to be a so called 'free country'! Censorship comes to mind."


"American Psycho should be permanently banned it's a very disturbing read" 


"Adolf Hitler's 'Meine Kampf' should not be banned - he was entitled to his political opinion."

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. "I loved Of Mice and Men because it was interesting and made me want to read more."


The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. "My favourite book ever. Clever, smart, thoughtful and very moreish. Read this hundreds of times. Worth a read!"

Six Book Challenge 2013

FC LRC & GC LRC are pleased to announce the launch of the Six Book Challenge 2013!

Do you want to improve your reading and literacy skills? Do you want to get back into reading but don't know where to start?

If the answer is yes, then get them involved in the Six Book Challenge!

We had a trial run of the challenge last year with two ESOL groups at Guildford and 15 students at Farnham with some success but we are now opening it up to any students that want to improve their reading skills and/or get back into reading.

The challenge is for students to read six books before the end of June 2013.

Well not just books... poetry, newspapers,  magazines and e-books count too! All you need to do is pop along to the LRC and sign up. It doesn't take long, just a minute or two to fill out a little form. Then we give you a reading diary so you can record what you read and rate it out of 5. Once you have read something and recorded it in your diary pop back into the LRC to get it stamped by a member of the LRC team.

When you have filled up your diary and read all six books you have completed the challenge and you will receive your certificate and get entered into a National Prize Draw. First prize is a theatre trip to London for 2 and three runners up will get a Kobo e-reader.

Don't worry if you don't know where to start or what to read the LRC staff can help you and you can also check out this useful website to help you find your next read. There will also be freebies and incentives throughout the challenge to keep you motivated! :)

Over 23 students have signed up already! Why not join them and give it a go?!?