New Banned Books Week Web Site Unveiled

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 8/26/2008

Interested in finding out what other librarians and bookstores are doing during Banned Books Week? You’re in luck.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the American Library Association (ALA) have just launched a Web site to help those who are interested in promoting the national celebration of the freedom to read, which takes place this year from September 27 to October  4. The Web site is intended to help the public learn about Banned Books Week, launched in 1982, and suggests ways they can support it. One of the main features on the site is a list that helps visitors locate participating bookstores and libraries in their communities.

“Hundreds of bookstores and libraries participate in Banned Books Week every year,” says ABFFE President Chris Finan. “Bannedbooksweek.org will make it easy for the public to find them,”

Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, says the site will help promote Banned Books Week nationally as well as provide support for local efforts. “We wanted to increase the attention for Banned Books Week on the Web while simultaneously providing increased support for the bookstores and libraries that are mounting displays and sponsoring free speech events,” she says.

Bookstores and libraries can also list their planned activities on the new site by visiting http://bannedbooksweek.org/signup/. 

More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982—with more than 400 in 2007 alone, says the ALA. Book challenges have taken place in every state and in hundreds of communities for reasons ranging from sexual content and violence to profanity and racism.