Commemorated since 1982, Banned Books Week is an annual celebration of our freedom to read.

That freedom, libraries believe (and we hope you do, too), should extend to whatever a person may want to read.

However, there have been numerous examples of state and local governments and school boards attempting to remove materials from library shelves or curricula because of one person or group’s objections to their content.

In the face of these attempts, Banned Books Week brings together interested parties like librarians and educators (and more generally, readers!) “in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.” (American Library Association)

But what books are banned? How and why are they banned?

The American Library Association has a wealth of information related to Banned Books Week, including the difference between a challenge and a ban and how books come to be challenged and a list of 10 frequently-challenged books.

The American Civil Liberties Union has an excellent interactive list of banned books. Hover over each one to see where and why it was banned.

Celebrate your freedom to read with us at the Nielsen Library’s Banned Books Week display and mug shot booth (next to the circulation desk on the first floor). Take a mug shot with one of the banned books on our display and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook (and hashtag it #bannedbooksweek, too, if you think of it), and you’ll be entered in a prize drawing!

The Nielsen Library is making it easier and less time consuming to request articles. The next time you make a request, you’ll be taken to a login page that looks like this:

Go ahead and login using your Adams State login information (whatever you use for Blackboard or for your Adams State email address). From there, you’ll be asked to enter your contact information.

Here’s where it just got easier: this will be the only time you ever have to enter your contact information. No more punching it in for every request! That’s worth celebrating!

Now your personal information is saved, your article will be emailed to you, and you can track your requests in the “View Your Requests” section of your account.

If you don’t know…

In addition to the thousands of articles we already provide access to, the Nielsen Library can borrow virtually any article on earth from another library on your behalf through a service called Interlibrary Loan. FOR FREE!  

If you’re searching in a database and you can’t find the full text of an article, just look for:

 or 

If you just have a citation for an article we don’t have, just click “Request Materials” in the black box on the upper-right of the Nielsen Library home page.

When you request an article, it typically just takes a day or two to get an electronic version (though one week is not unusual, so do your research early!).

The Nielsen Library’s adventure-themed lecture series, Earth, Water, Sky: Conversations on the Great Outdoors – San Luis Valley and Beyond, continues this fall!

All events take place on the second floor of the Nielsen Library and are free and open to the public.

We’ll kick things off on Sunday, September 20 @ 6pm:

Join Broughton Coburn, author of The Vast Unknown: America’s First Ascent of Everest, joins us for a discussion of the triumphant 1963 United States Everest expedition. Dick Pownall, a member of the 1963 team, will also be present to share his experiences and answer any climbing queries.

And later this fall…

Tuesday, October 6th @5pm – The Tunnels Under Our Feet: Colorado’s Forgotten Hollow Sidewalks with Tracy Beach

Tuesday, November 17th @6pm – Hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc with Carol Smith

The Nielsen Library will host “My World”, a photography exhibition by Tetsuko of Cold Mountain, September 14-30. The exhibit will be on display on the 2nd floor of the library next to the Grizzly Testing & Learning Center.

Join us for an opening night reception with light refreshments from 3-4pm on Monday, September 14.

Tetsuko of Cold Mountain’s artist’s statement: “Tetsuko of Cold Mountain has been an exhibiting artist since 1974, when she arrived in New Mexico from the Northeast. She has only shown in New Mexico and Colorado and has cone from being a representational artist to an abstract artist. Her photography reflects both representative and abstract influences. She has lived in Monte Vista since 2006, moving down from Boulder where she lived for many years. She has been a student of Buddhism and a peace activist for many years. Tetsuko hopes that all of this is reflected in her work.”