"I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me,"
Evan Smith Rakoff a former resident of Randolf County (where the ban occurred) and the current editor of Poets and Writers teamed up with Vantage Books to give away 100 copies of Ellison's novel via an indie book seller.
Rakoff, a culture and literature journalist based in New York, said he was "deeply ashamed" when he heard about the ban. "I follow news really closely and I often encounter these kinds of stories," he told The Atlantic Wire.One of the members of the school board stated that Invisible Man had no literary value. However this book won the 1953 National Book Award and has been named as one of the books that shaped America by the Library of Congress.
The backlash on the school board decision has motivated a meeting which is also being held today to reconsider the banning of this novel. Their original motivation to ban Ellison's work was based on the complaint of one parent in the district. The people of Randolf County had a lot to say about this decision according to an article on The Los Angeles Times website. It appears that the rest of the county's population is not in agreement with this decision.
I would like to personally salute the librarians who work in Randolph County for ordering additional copies of Invisible Man in a variety of formats. This decision proves that you are willing to do the job of a librarian by supplying the public you serve with all types of reading materials.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share your views or tips so that readers can benefit from your perspective.