It’s the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week, an annual event since 1982 designed to celebrate the Freedom to Read. I’m one of those lefty-liberal types, so naturally I support any effort to stem censorship and make sure people can read whatever they want to read.
According to the ALA, BBW “celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.” Each year, the ALA compiles a list of the 10 most frequently challenged books and then hosts BBW to remind us of the importance of the First Amendment and to remember that it’s dangerous to put limits on access to information in a free society.
At various times and in all parts of the country, some of my favorite books have been challenged: Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, Slaughterhouse-Five, Bridge to Terabithia, A Wrinkle in Time, and multiple books by Judy Blume. Heck, even Where’s Waldo? made the list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999!
(Side note to whoever made an objection to Waldo: seriously?)
On Saturday the 26th, the BBW kicked off with a “Read-Out” in Chicago. There, six authors whose books made the top 10 of 2008 list, came together to read from their banned or challenged books and to discuss what it means to be a censor target. The week may be half-over already, but you can still participate. The ALA’s website has a list of suggested activities as well as scripts and drafts for PSA’s and letters to the editor.
The best way, of course, to celebrate BBW would be to find a comfortable seat and make a point of reading the challenged books. Be subversive! Stand up for intellectual freedom and make sure everyone has the ability to read whatever they want.
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
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