Celebrate the Freedom to Read!

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores ,and libraries. More than 1,000 books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. People challenge books that they say are too sexual or too violent. They object to profanity and slang, and protest against offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups–or positive portrayals of homosexuals. Their targets range from books that explore the latest problems to classic and beloved works of American literature.

According to the American Library Association, more than 400 books were challenged in 2008. The 10 most challenged titles were:

“And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
“His Dark Materials” trilogy, by Philip Pullman
“TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R” (series), by Lauren Myracle
“Scary Stories” (series), by Alvin Schwartz
“Bless Me, Ultima,” by Rudolfo Anaya
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
“Gossip Girl” (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
“Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” by Sarah S. Brannen
“The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini
“Flashcards of My Life,” by Charise Mericle Harper

During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2009 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from Saturday, Sept. 26 through Saturday, Oct. 3. Stop by Herrick Library to see our display of banned books and to remind yourself of the freedom we have to read.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 10:15 am and is filed under Did You Know?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.