Links to the Library
Freedom to Read
![ALA_BBW_Poster_2010_sm[1]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4904802108_4b97f4a391_m.jpg)
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.
Intellectual freedom — the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular — provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged — and possibly banned or restricted — if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, please contact the ALA Office of Intellectural Freedom at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4220, or bbw@ala.org.
Banned Books Display
Related Websites
- American Booksellers AssociationThe national trade association for independent booksellers — since 1900. ABA offers education, services and products, advocacy, and relevant business information.
- American Library AssociationLearn more about Banned Books Week from the American Library Association.
- American Society of Journalists and AuthorsThe American Society of Journalists and Authors, the professional association of independent nonfiction writers, helps freelance writers advance their careers.
- Banned Books OnlineA special exhibit of books that have been the objects of censorship or censorship attempts.
- Bonfire of the LibertiesA glimpse of the traveling exhibit Bonfire of the Liberties: Censorship of the Humanities, which addresses the difficult topic of censorship.
- Comic Book Legal Defense FundComic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers.
- Controversial and Banned BooksA website that lists incidents of censorship, banned authors, banned books and explores who is doing the banning.
- PeacefirePeacefire.org was created in August 1996 to represent the interests of people under 18 in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet.
- The Center for the Book in the Library of CongressStarting in 1984, the Center for the Book in the Library began to establish affiliate centers in the 50 states. Today, there is a State Center for the Book in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Why Would They Ban That?Until recently, it was incredibly common for books to be banned the world over — for obscenity, political reasons, or the whims of politicians. These are 16 examples that make you wonder “why would they ban that?”
Banned Juvenile Titles
Reason: Challenged, but retained in the North Kansas City, Mo., schools (2009) despite a parent’s concern that the book wasn’t age-appropriate, didn’t follow the district’s policy on human sexuality education, and tries to indoctrinate children about homosexuality. The illustrated book is based on a true story of two male penguins that adopted an abandoned egg at New York City’s Central Park in the late 1990s. In subsequent discussions, the schools appear to be headed towards segregating elementary school libraries according to “age appropriateness.” Students might be restricted to view or check out materials in their own age-class or younger.
Reason: Challenged as part of a reading list in a fourth-grade class at Southern Hills Elementary School in Wichita Falls, Texas, (2009) because the book includes scenes depicting Egyptian worship rituals. The Newbery Award-winning book has been an optional part of the school district’s curriculum for years. “I’m not going to stop until it’s banned from the school district. I will not quiet down. I will not back down. I don’t believe any student should be subjected to anything that has to do with evil gods or black magic,” said the student’s father.
Banned Non-Fiction
Banned Fiction
All titles on this page, and accompanying descriptions, come courtesy of the American Library Association's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.
Reason: Banned from the curriculum in Puerto Rican public high schools (2009) along with four other books because of coarse language. Written by one of Latin America’s most prominent contemporary writers, the novel contains a brief romantic encounter beneath a crucifi x. It is a scene that prompted Mexico’s former interior secretary to try to have the book dropped from a reading list at his daughter’s private school, without success. Fuentes said that the attempt boosted sales of the book. The other titles banned were: Antologia personal, by Jose Luis Gonzalez; Mejor te lo cuento: antologia personal, 1978–2005, by Juan Antonio Ramos; Reunion de espejos, by Jose Luis Vega; and El entierro de Cortijo: 6 de octubre de 1982, by Edgardo Rodriguez Julia.
Reason: Removed from the St. Edmund Campion Secondary School classrooms in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, (2009) because a parent objected to language used in the novel, including the word “nigger.”
Banned Young Adult Fiction
As reported in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.
Reason: Retained on the summer reading list at Antioch, Ill., High School (2009) despite objections from several parents who found its language vulgar and racist. In response to concerns, however, the district will form a committee each March to review future summer reading assignments. The committee, which will include parents, would decide whether parents should be warned if a book contains possibly objectionable material.
Reason: Withdrawn from classroom use and the approved curriculum at the Montgomery County, Kentucky, High School (2009), but available at the high school library and student book club. Some parents have complained about five novels that contain foul language and cover topics — including sex, child abuse, suicide, and drug abuse — deemed unsuited for discussion in coed high school classes. They also contend that the books don’t provide the intellectual challenge and rigor that students need in college preparatory classes. The titles appeared on suggested book lists compiled by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, for 12- to 18-year-olds who are “reluctant readers.” The superintendent removed the book because it wasn’t on the pre-approved curriculum list and couldn’t be added by teachers in the middle of a school year without permission.
Reason: Four Wisconsin men belonging to the Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) sought $30,000 apiece for emotional distress they suffered from the West Bend, Wis. Community Memorial Library (2009) for displaying a copy of the book. The claim states that, “specific words used in the book are derogatory and slanderous to all males” and “the words can permeate violence and put one’s life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.” The CCLU called for the public burning of this title. Four months later, the library board unanimously voted 9–0 to maintain, “without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access,” this and other books challenged in the young adult section at the West Bend Community Memorial Library.
Reason: Banned at Henderson Junior High School in the Stephenville, Texas, Independent School District (2009). The entire teen vampire series was banned for sexual content or nudity. Since the series has not been completed, “Stephenville ISD actually banned books that have not yet been published and perhaps even books that have yet to be written. There is no way the district could know the content of these books, and yet they have been banned.”
Reason: Removed from Portage, Ind. High School classrooms (2008) for topics such as homosexuality, drug use, and sexual behavior. The novel chronicles the freshman year of high school of a young man struggling with awkwardness and the changing world around him. Challenged at the West Bend, Wis. Community Memorial Library (2009) as being “obscene or child pornography” in a section designated “Young Adults.” The library board unanimously voted 9–0 to maintain, “without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access,” the book in the young adult section at the West Bend Community Memorial Library. The vote was a rejection of a four-month campaign conducted by the citizen’s group West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries to move fiction and nonfi ction books with sexually explicit passages from the young adult section to the adult section and label them as containing sexual material. Challenged on Wyoming, Ohio high school district’s suggested reading list (2009). The book contains frank and sometimes explicit descriptions of sex, drugs, suicide, and masturbation. Restricted at the William Byrd and Hidden Valley high schools in Roanoke, Va. (2009) to juniors and seniors. Freshmen and sophomores, however, will need parental permission to check out the book.
Reason: Challenged at the West Bend, Wis., Community Memorial Library (2009) as being “obscene or child pornography” in a section designated “Young Adults.” The library board unanimously voted 9–0 to maintain, “without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access,” the books in the young adult category at the West Bend Community Memorial Library. The vote was a rejection of a four-month campaign conducted by the citizen’s group West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries to move fi ction and nonfiction books with sexually explicit passages from the young adult section to the adult section and label them as containing sex ual material.
Reason: Challenged at the Leesburg, Fla. Public Library (2009) because of sexual innuendo, drug references, and other adult topics.
Reason: Banned in Australia (2009) for primary school students because the series is too racy. Librarians have stripped the books from shelves in some junior schools because they believe the content is too sexual and goes against religious beliefs. They even have asked parents not to let kids bring their own copies of Stephenie Meyer’s smash hit novels — which explore the stormy love affair between a teenage girl and a vampire — to school.
Reason: Challenged, but retained at the John Muir Middle School library in Wausau, Wis., (2009) despite a parent’s request that the book be removed because of sexually explicit content. The author said, “The book’s dialogue about sex and alcohol is frank but the characters criticize those who engage in those behaviors.” Retained in the Ponus Ridge Middle School library in Norwalk, Conn., (2010). While many critics decry its style as “grammatically incorrect,” most who take exception point to its foul language, sexual content, and questionable sexual behavior. It is the first book written entirely in the format of instant messaging — the title itself is a shorthand reference to “talk to you later.”
Reason: Challenged, but retained at the Effingham, Ill., Helen Matthes Library (2009) despite concerns about its graphic content and the unsatisfactory ending. The book is about a 15-year-old’s perspective of living with her captor after being forcibly kidnapped and imprisoned at the age of 10. The book has received several accolades from book critics.
Reason: Challenged at the Nampa, Idaho Public Library (2009) by a parent appalled that the cover included an abstract drawing of a nude woman and the back cover contains some profanity. The book explores the theme of censorship through the eyes of a gifted eighth-grader who is suspended after making an avant-garde sex-education video for a class project.
Reason: Challenged, retained at the Theisen Middle School in Fond du Lac, Wis. (2010) despite a parent’s belief that the book’s “sexual content was too mature for 11- to 14-year-olds.” The book has won several awards, including being named a 2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. The same parent plans to request removal of six other books from the library, including the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, another set of books by Sones, and Get Well Soon, by Julie Halpern.
Reason: Challenged at the Leesburg, Fla. Public Library (2009) because of sexual innuendo, drug references, and other adult topics. Responding to a call by parents, church, and community leaders to remove this novel along with 12 other provocative books available to teens at the Leesburg Public Library, city commissioners voted 4–1 to separate all books based on age groups. High-school books will be placed in a separate area in the library stairwell.
Banned, Not Owned by the Library
Banned Books Events
Loading...
A Chat with Faulkner
![Faulkner[1]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6160/6151086185_ca8bf44719_m.jpg)
Professor to become William Faulkner
Dr. John D. Anderson, an associate professor at
A performance studies scholar and veteran of the Chautauqua circuit,
The free event is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Parman Library at Stone Oak Amphitheater, 20735 Wilderness Oak.
At least three of Faulkner’s novels, “As I Lay Dying,” “Absalom, Absalom” and “The Sound and the Fury” have faced challenges and bans on the basis of language and mature subject content.
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the
Intellectual freedom — the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged — and possibly banned or restricted — if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by
- The American Booksellers Association;
- American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression;
- The American Library Association;
- American Society of Journalists and Authors;
- Association of American Publishers; and the
- National Association of College Stores.
It is endorsed by
In 2011, the below also signed on as sponsors.
A Recent Controversy
Missouri school board bans book
By Mike Penprase
Springfield (MO) News-Leader
The Stockton, Missouri, school board voted unanimously Wednesday night to uphold its April decision to ban a book from the school curriculum.
The 7-0 vote came after a public forum about the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie.
The board also voted, 7-2, against a proposal to return the book to the high school library with restrictions.
Board member Rod Tucker said his main concern was the book's language, that it had too much profanity to be of value. He rejected the argument that most kids are familiar with such language and use it regularly.
Tucker said the district has other matters to deal with, and officials and many residents want to get the issue behind them.
“Unfortunately, all our attention has been on the book,” he said.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is about a young resident of an Indian reservation who decides to attend a white high school.
There are descriptions of masturbation, sexual language and foul jokes, along with themes encompassing racism, alcoholism and violence. There are also descriptions of how the protagonist, Junior, tries to realize his dreams while surviving both life on the reservation and at a new school.
Alexie's book has won a number of awards, but that did not sway the board.
“We can take the book and wrap it in those 20 awards everyone else said it won and it still is wrong,” said board member Ken Spurgeon.
Supporters of the book said it was chosen to get high school boys, particularly, interested in reading. Spurgeon said that was a mistake because the book's reading level is low for high school readers.
“We're dumbing down our educational standards if we do that,” he said.
Cheryl Marcum, a resident who had pushed the board to explain and reverse its decision, was disappointed by the vote.
She said she's heard about the issue from young people who have left Stockton.
“They said, 'I left Stockton because stuff like that happens there,'” she said.
Communication arts teacher Kim Jaspers, who supported keeping the book in the curriculum, said it had been seen as a good “community read.” The result of the ban has been ironic, she said.
“We thought it would be a great community read,” she said. “Ironically, this has become a community read because of the book ban.”
Before the vote, about 200 people attended the forum. The crowd was large enough that school officials shifted the forum from the high school commons to the gymnasium.
The forum was set up after board members, who initially banned banned the book in April after hearing from an upset elementary school parent, heard recommendations that it be placed in the high school library with restrictions.
Speakers who supported the original ban said it reflected community values in Stockton.
“I am proud of you guys for saying no. Here's the limit,” he said to the board, pointing to the pages. “We're not going to take it.”
“It's an insult to my son and my daughter to say we have to have stuff like this in our schools to make them read,” Holzknecht said.
His comments drew applause.
Supporters of keeping the book said the issue is about the freedom to read it. They said the board acted hastily in banning it. Some teachers were upset because they were not consulted before the ban.
High school student Dakota Freeze is against the ban and supported keeping the book. She said her ambition is to leave Stockton and get into politics and the law.
“This book in a nutshell is my hope,” she said. “It's not about giving up. It's about not letting people tell you you're not worth it.”
Along with local protests about the ban, the board's initial decision drew the attention of several national groups, including the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Library Association and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
Speakers at the forum -- about 25 all told -- reflected strong feelings on both sides, but proceedings remained civil. Applause followed several speakers.
Banned Biographies
Loading...
