They're With the Banned

One of the things they tell you to do when you're starting out as a writer is "Write what you know." A good variation for meeting professionals might be "Meet as you do" -- a guiding principle that the American Library Association (ALA) put into effect at its Library Advocacy Day rally on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. As Bisnow reports, the event -- held during the ALA 2010 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. -- was "the only rally we've ever been to that started with story time," with young-adult author Lauren Myracle reading from her book Violet in Bloom. Myracle's work is among the most frequently banned in the United States, which to me makes her reading a double-score for ALA, because (1) it was a literal demonstration of what libraries bring to people every day, and (2) it made a political statement that was in keeping with Library Advocacy Day. Meet as you do, right?