You Banned What?!
Did you know that hundreds of books have been banned or challenged around the world? It's true! So, what exactly is Banned Books Week?
According to the American Library Association:
"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."
Just to break it down: First someone challenges a book. "A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group." (link) If the book is removed, then it is considered banned from that location.
Want to celebrate Banned Books Week?
* Sarah Ockler, author of Twenty Boy Summer, will be here in Springfield this weekend!! You can find her at the Library Center on Friday. On Saturday she will be at the Library Station and Library Center.
* Park Central is featuring movies based on banned books every night this week.
* Thursday night Brentwood will host a Skype event with Chris Crutcher and Dr. William "Rodney" Allen, author and Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library board member.
* Check out the thelibrary.org to find out more!
* READ A BANNED BOOK!!
Here's a list to get you started:
* Twenty Boy Summer
* The Catcher in the Rye
* Lord of the Flies
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
* The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things
* A Wrinkle in Time
* The Perks of Being a Wallflower
* Annie on My Mind
* The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
* Slaughterhouse Five
* Monster
* Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
* Fat Kid Rules the World
* The Giver
* To Kill a Mockingbird
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
* What My Mother Doesn't Know
Find this article at http://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=1563&lid=0&view=print