Banned Books Week Celebrates the Freedom to Read
This Annual Event Honors the First Amendment Right to Free Speech
Sep 15, 2009
Authors from Maya Angelou to Walt Whitman have experienced censorship. Over the years, books from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Carrie have been removed from library shelves across the US. The kick off of Banned Books Week will feature authors of six of the ten most challenged books of 2008 reading from their work.
What is Banned Books Week?
According to the American Library Association’s website, “Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where the freedom to express oneself and the freedom to choose what opinions and viewpoints to consume are both met.”
What is the Difference Between a Banned Book and a Challenged Book?
A book that has been banned is removed from library shelves and/or school systems. Challenging a book is an attempt to remove it.
The Three Major Reasons a Book is Challenged or Banned
- Sexual explicitness
- Offensive language
- Unsuitable for Age Group
Other reasons may include such things as occult or satanic themes, homosexuality, racism and violence.
The Ten Most Challenged Books of 2008
The American Library Association, (ALA), reports that at least 513 books were challenged in 2008. However, they estimate that 70 – 80 percent are unreported. According to the ALA, the ten most challenged books of 2008 are:
- And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Paul Parnell.
- His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman
- TTYL;TTFN; L8R, G8R, by Lauren Myracle
- Scary Stories, by Alvin Schwartz
- Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
- Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar
- Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah Brannen
- The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
- Postcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
In 1990, according to the banned books website, Ed Morrow, the President of ALA and Harry Hoffman, the President of Walden Book Co. Inc. had this to say about censorship, “Censorship cannot eliminate evil. It can only kill freedom. We believe Americans have the right to buy, stores have the right to sell, authors have the right to write and publishers have the right to publish Constitutionally-protected material.”
This is the philosophy on which the annual Banned Books Week is built.
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