Celebrate Banned Books Week, September 26–October 3

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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 9/9/2009 2:05:00 PM

The recent book-banning controversy over Tintin au Congo (Little, Brown, 2005) at New York’s Brooklyn Public Library is yet another reminder of the importance of Banned Books Week, an event in which thousands nationwide will read from banned or challenged books, speak out and learn about censorship, and celebrate the right to choose reading materials without restriction.

The hugely popular "Harry Potter" series, To Kill a Mockingbird, and "Little Red Riding Hood" have all faced removal from library shelves in the United States. And in 2008 alone, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom received reports of more than 513 attempts to remove books deemed by some to be inappropriate or even dangerous.

During this year’s Banned Books Week, libraries and bookstores across the country will battle censorship and celebrate the freedom to read from September 26–October 3, 2009.

The Fayetteville Public Library will host the Banished Book Lunch Club by discussing classic books that have been banned for political, social, sexual, or religious reasons. The small Lagrangeville Library Association in Poughkeepsie, NY, has already scheduled a Banned Book Challenge in which participants match the book description with the title and author.

ALA’s Web site provides a myriad of suggestions and materials on how libraries can celebrate Banned Book Week, ranging from display ideas to a First Amendment Film Festival. The association also provides a range of materials for this year’s celebration, which features the slogan "Read, Speak, Know." Also available is an online bibliography entitled Books Challenged and Banned in 2008–2009 and a map of book bans and challenges in the U.S. from 2007 to 2009.

In addition, The Long Island Coalition Against Censorship, an association of 22 educational and community organizations, including 16 public libraries and professional library organizations, is hosting an exhibit called “Censorship in Schools and Libraries,” which presents 32 illustrations of books that have been censored.

Included are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, In the Night Kitchen, The Catcher in the Rye, and novels by Judy Blume and Chris Crutcher. This year, Susan Patron’s Newbery Award-winning novel, The Higher Power of Lucky (S & S, 2006), is included, as well as Vamos a Cuba (Heinemann Library, 2001), a controversial children’s book about Cuba that’s currently being challenged in federal court.

First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take their democratic freedom to read for granted. The event is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.