Banned Books Week fights for freedom
Let Freedom Read: Libraries, bookstores celebrate Banned Books Week, Sept. 21-28
Special events, promotions and read-outs will be held nationwide
“The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck’s classic novel about the depression, had a rocky introduction in American libraries back in 1939. It was burned by the East St. Louis (Ill.) Public Library, barred from the Buffalo (N.Y.) Public Library and banned in Kansas City, Mo., and Kern County, Calif. Even today, as the National Steinbeck Center celebrates the centennial of Steinbeck’s birth, his books continue to be challenged. According to the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, “Of Mice and Men” was the second most challenged book of 2001, after the Harry Potter series, arguably a new children’s classic.
To raise awareness regarding the censorship of books today, events, exhibits and read-outs across the country will be held during Banned Books Week, Sept. 21-28. The read-outs will feature local celebrities and community members reading from their favorite banned book, with a focus on American classics such as Steinbeck’s novels, “Catcher in the Rye,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Color Purple” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The ALA will host a read-out at its national headquarters in Chicago on Sept. 24.
Banned Books Week 2002 has the theme “Let Freedom Read: Read a Banned Book,” and is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.
“The ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely are core American values,” said Judith Krug, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “We hope the read-outs will help remind Americans of the importance of our freedom at a time when freedoms are being eroded in the United States. Now – more than ever – we must let freedom read.”
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded more than 6,500 book challenges since 1990, including 448 in 2001. It is estimated that less than one-quarter of all challenges are reported and recorded. A “challenge” is defined as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school about a book’s content or appropriateness. The majority of challenges (roughly 60 percent) are brought by parents, followed by library patrons and administrators. Each challenge represents an effort to remove books from school curricula or library shelves.
Books many parents and teachers consider American classics, including “The Grapes of Wrath,” “The Bluest Eye” and “Lord of the Flies,” are among the most frequently challenged books of the past 12 years, when the Office for Intellectual Freedom began tracking attempts to remove books from schools and libraries.
“Unfortunately, any book can come under attack for any reason,” said Chris Finan, president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. “Steinbeck’s books have been deemed ‘filthy’ and ‘profane,’ while Maurice Sendak’s popular ‘In the Night Kitchen’ has been challenged for nudity. I hope families will pick up a banned book and read it and discuss it together.”
While committed parents, students, librarians, teachers and other concerned citizens are fighting to keep books on the shelves, and more and more challenges are unsuccessful, the freedom to read continues to be threatened from Iowa to Connecticut. The James Kennedy Public Library in Dyersville, Iowa, last month banned Sari Locker’s teen advice book “Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to School,” and would-be censors in Cromwell, Ct., are petitioning to have the Newberry Medal-winning children’s books “The Witch of Blackbird Pond,” by Elizabeth George Speare and “Bridge to Terabithia,” by Katherine Paterson, removed from the Cromwell middle school’s curriculum.
“Not every book will be right for every reader, but the freedom to choose for ourselves from a full array of possibilities is a hard-won right that we must not take for granted in this country,” said Judith Platt, director of the Association of American Publishers’ Freedom to Read program.
For more information on Banned Books Week, please visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks/.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 27 2002. Filed under News.
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