It's Banned Books Week!
This is the week we celebrate the Freedom to Read!
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.
This week we will be discussing/reviewing some of my favorite banned books! I encourage you to pick up a banned or challenged book this week and celebrate our right to read!What are your favorite banned books from the American Library Associations Top 100 banned/challenged books?
I think I'll check out Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison at the library today. :) It was a banned book.
ReplyDeleteTo Kill a Mockingbird- read it when I was in middle school and my friends and I were so taken with it, we took on nicknames from the book. I was Dill. My best friend was Scout. And my other friend, the wise one, called herself Atticus.
ReplyDeleteWhich one are you reading this week? Phil's fave is Lord of the Flies. I guess this is a good time to read 1984, I've always wanted to.
ReplyDeleteFun idea!
From the Classics list, my favourite is Brave New World. From the top 100 of the last decade, my favourites are The Giver, Bridge to Terabithia and The Handmaid's Tale.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see more blogs celebrating BBW! Do you mind me linking to you from my blog?
Aw, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple ... How can I choose?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it ironic that the majority of these books are now classics and taught in school/college?
Hi Mary! I wrote a similar entry today. Can't wait to see what you think!
ReplyDelete