Yes, it’s that time of year again when a spotlight is shone on the problem of censorship in United States libraries and bookstores. To quote the Banned Books Week Web site:
According to the American Library Association, there were 326 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011, and many more go unreported. Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events.
The 2012 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 30 through October 6.
The ten most challenged books of 2011 include Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy (sex and violence), Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird (offensive language and racism), and Dori Hillestad Butler’s My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy (nudity and sex education—seriously?!).
For more information, just click on the poster.
Right now I’m reading Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. How will you celebrate the week?
