News

Banned Books Week is September 21st-27th this year!

According to the American Library Association more than 11,300 books have been banned or challenged since 1982.  Banned Books Week is a celebration of your freedom to read and to bring awareness that censorship still happens to this day.

Stay informed about what’s happening in your community:

• Attend School Board Meetings
• Talk to your local librarians and teachers
• Follow groups  such as
  • ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom- ala.org/oif
  • First Amendment Center- firstamendmentcenter.org
  • Freedom to Read Foundation- ftrf.org 
  • The National Coalition Against Censorship- ncac.org
  • The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund- cbldf.org
  • The American Civil Liberties Union- aclu.org

Here are a few of the books that have been Banned or Challenged in 2013-2014:

 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman 

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Challenged because it contained Drugs, alcohol, smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende 

A magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.

Challenged because it was considered too graphic.

Bless Me, Ultima by Rodolfo Anaya

Ultima, a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic, comes to Antonio Marez’s New Mexico family when he is six years old, and she helps him discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past.

Challenged because of it’s mature content, Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.

Challenged because it was sexually explicit, graphically violent and  considered morally corrupt.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephn Chbosky

A tale of adolescence whose hero is Charlie, a high school freshman in Pennsylvania. The novel follows Charlie as he is introduced to love, literature and pot. A debut in fiction by a filmmaker.

Challenged because it has sexual situations and drug use.

Read more about this year’s Banned and Challenged Titles at the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom 2013-2014 Bibliography.

Learn more about Banned Books Week and the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom at their website: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/