Banned Book Week Is September 29 - October 6

"You shouldn't read that!" my girl friend said. "It's dirty!" But because she said that, I wanted to read it even more, to make that decision for myself. The book was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. That book, now defined as a classic along with Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, are off the Banned Book list this year, but in the past have often been included.
According to the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), more than a book a day faces removal from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries. During Banned Books Week, September 29 - October 6, thousands of libraries and bookstores throughout the nation will celebrate a democratic society's most basic freedom - the freedom to read.
"Not every book is right for every reader," said ALA president Loriene Roy. "Libraries serve users from a variety of backgrounds - that's why libraries need - and have - such a wide range of materials. Individuals must have the right to choose what materials are suitable for themselves and their families."
Each year, the OIF receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" by people who asked that they be removed from school or library shelves. There were 546 known attempts to remove books in 2006, and more than 9,200 attempts since the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom began to electronically compile and publish information book challenges in 1990. Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
"Part of living in a democracy means respecting each other's differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they and their families read," said Judith F. Krug, director, OIF. "We must remain vigilant to assure that would-be censors don't threaten the very basis of our democracy."
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
The Office for Intellectual Freedom is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. The goal of the office is to educate librarians and the general public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 64,000 members.
We invite you to explore what the week means. Reflect on your freedom to read, cherish it, and, by all means, read what you want to read. As the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, said, "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
(Source: The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression http://www.abffe.com and the American Library Association http://www.ala.org)