How book burning saved a library the goodman center. People who havent used a library since elementary school are flocking back. Describes the student parade that preceded the bonfire, the chants that accompanied the consignment of some authors works to the fire. Isis burns thousands of books and rare manuscripts from. Today the public is ever more aware of what libraries have to offer. Local chinese library burns books in cleanup drive reuters. Isis militants have reportedly ransacked mosul library, burning over a hundred thousand rare manuscripts and documents spanning centuries of human learning. Government officials in a northwestern county in china face punishment after images of them burning books outside a library went viral, sparking concern. Troy, michigan couldnt afford to keep its library open, so it scheduled a vote for a tax increase. The bookburning campaign that saved a public library. That was the underlying question in troy, michigan where tea party activists sought to. In a photo that circulated on chinese social media on the weekend, workers at a library located in zhenyuan county in northcentral gansu province were. The campaign was picked up in local media and national outlets like library journal and was hotly debated online.
A want ad appeared in the troy times appeared clowns and ice cream vendors for the book burning party source. On may 10, 1934, one year after the book burnings, the germany library of burnt books founded by alfred kantorowicz was opened to assemble copies of the books that had been destroyed. To the librarians, the behavior, including posting a video scoping out the best place for the book burning party, was insidious enough to prompt library employees to petition and receive extra police patrols. The book burning was part of a campaign launched in october by the ministry of education that called on school libraries across china to remove books that supposedly smeared the chinese communist. The bookburning campaign that saved a public library citylab. A vote against the library, is like a vote to burn books. S575 1984 find in a library near you external link based on the new york times story of may 11, 1933 on the berlin book burning.
However, the campaigners, having now been backed into the furthest corner, decided to use the publics mentality against them. The company produced a guerilla and social marketing campaign pdf in which they pretended to be a clandestine group urging people to vote to close the library so they could hold a bookburning party afterward. In the peoples republic of china, library officials publicize the burning of books that have fallen out of favor with the communist party of chinas elites. Enthusiastic crowds witnessed the burning of books by brecht, einstein, freud, mann and remarque, among. We invited everyone to our facebook page, adding twitter, foursquare, want ads, flyers and more to. A strong antitax group waged a dominating campaign against book burning party troy library on vimeo. Book burning party revealed as hoax troy, mi patch.
The book burning campaign by supporters of the troy library was a brilliant use of rhetoric to direct a discussion which they thought was misguided. No one wants to be a part of a town that burns books, and the outraged citizens. Of course, a book burning party is an extreme and, some might say, perverse stretching of that story, but given the risk of losing their library forever, supporters felt that extreme measures were required. Weeks later news emerged that the citys tea party mayor, janice daniels, made an antigay comment in public, again.
The burning of the university library sent shock waves, especially across the arab world. The fact that the book burning party campaign was ostensibly run by a group called safeguarding american families or safe and the true intent wasnt revealed until well into the debate has angered some people, especially since it appears no one involved with it worked with or explained the intent to other groups and individuals who were also working to save the library. The leo burnettarc worldwide agency has won a gold prize in the effie awards for their hoax book burning party campaign, which is credited with saving the public library in. That was the underlying question in troy, michigan where tea party activists sought to thwart a small tax increase to keep the award winning library open. Save the troy library adventures in reverse psychology. Library officials are burning books mclc resource center. Shortly thereafter, social media pages on facebook and twitter began to spring up.
A library in gansu, china burned religious books quartz. And as volunteers for the library objected to the idea of burning books, the agency deleted librarians comments. Chen youxi, a prominent defense lawyer, warned officials that bookburning goes down in history and loosely compared it to the cultural revolution in a social media post that was. Here are some of the worst, but a warning to all bibliophiles. Awardwinning bookburning hoax saves troy, mi libraries. Safeguarding american families printed up signs that said. This youtube video explains the campaign in detail. Beijing washington post library officials in northwest china recently hoped to demonstrate their ideological fervour and loyalty to the communist party by. The effect on other countries in the region can be seen through commemorative stamps. Burning books in gansu province taken from twitter in 1933, the nazi party in germany launched its infamous book burning campaign. The campaign ultimately revealed that the book burning party campaign was a hoax and that their intention was to send a message. We invited everyone to our facebook page, adding twitter. It worked the library got the tax increase to stay open and leo burnett got a bunch of awards. Book burning party for troy public library 2012 adlib.
Chinas library officials are burning books that diverge from communist party ideology. Posing as a political group, we posted signs around town. This is one of the most important elements that you will have to take care of. I first became aware of the book burning party in july 2011 when i saw a sign advertising it at an intersection near my home. Chinas library officials are burning books that diverge. How a book burning party saved the library daily kos. When is a book burning party not a book burning party. Then, three weeks ahead of the vote, safeguarding american families revealed their true intentions and replaced the book burning party signs with new ones urging residents to vote yes to keep the library open. There were so many ideas and blog posts thrown my way that i.
A strong antitax group waged a dominating campaign against it. Bookstore glossary library links news publications timeline virtual israel experience. While the library needed just a small increase in taxes for it to stay open, the citizens still did not want to have to pay more money. Everything from the bible to fifty shades of grey has been publicly torched since the turn of the millenium and many book burnings have taken place right here in the united states, where it remains perfectly legal. Iowa man burns childrens books from public library to protest orange city pride frankly, i found it disgusting, said mark stringer, executive director of aclu of iowa. It included a picture of employees burning a stack of books outside the entrance of the library, which was adorned with a red banner declaring it would grasp the themes of education and promote the comprehensive and strict development of the party. It included a picture of employees burning a stack of books outside the entrance of the library, which was adorned with a red banner declaring it would grasp the themes of education and promote. Troy, michigan couldnt afford to sustain its library, so it scheduled a vote for a tax increase. They effectively utilized all components of the rhetorical triangle to get their audience to.
Its not possible to overstate the importance of libraries as idea beacons, agents of literacy, and centers of community life. How do you explain a book burning party to a 7 and 11 year old. Thousands of books regarded as jewish, ungerman, or against the nazi party were removed from libraries and publicly burned. The fact that the book burning party campaign was ostensibly run by a group called safeguarding american families or safe and the true intent wasnt revealed until well into the debate has angered some people. The troy library book burning campaign rhetoric and. In may 1933, the nazi party decreed that any book, which acts subversively on our future or strikes at the root of german thought, the german home and the driving forces. But the classic method is still a good oldfashioned book burning.
On may 10, 1933 student groups at universities across germany carried out a series of book burnings of works that the students and leading nazi party members associated with an ungerman spirit. Iowa man burns childrens books from orange city library. Signs advertising a book burning party at our public library on a date just days after the election began popping up around troy. Now we learn that it took a bookburning campaign to save the citys library. Egypt, iraq, jordan and algeria itself, after independence introduced stamps depicting either. Its worth noting that troy library officials werent involved in the campaign and.
Divided but not conquered fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son. The marketing team began planting signs around the city that said vote to close. A brief history of book burning, from the printing press. Group says campaign to close the troy public library is a satirical appeal to voter emotion. What good is knowledge, if no one has access to it.
The other week i was thinking about what to plan for the fall when school starts back up, so i asked my twitter friends the following question. You have complete freedom when it comes to the subject, but you do have to follow strict grammar and punctuation rules. The legacy of book burning most associated with the nazis, book burnings still occur today sometimes just for effect, sometimes with more chilling intent nilanjana roy. Watch this all the way through then share your thoughts. Well, the dad and the mom have been working on that since john posted a comment last week on save troy library tuesday announcing a book burning party on august 5th. A brief history of book burning, from the printing press to internet archives as long as there have been books, people have burned thembut over the years, the motivation has changed. The story of how a small public library was saved from closure by a benevolent ad agency using reverse psychology.
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