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Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read, the freedom to choose and the freedom to express one's opinion, even if it is unorthodox.
Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1982, it has become an annual event reminding Americans not to take this democratic freedom for granted. Held annually during the last week of September, the events highlight:
- Free and open access to information
- Attention to the harms of censorship
- Spotlights actual or attempts to ban books
Intellectual Freedom
TheAmerican Library Association describes intellectual freedom as:
- The freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.
It is the foundation for Banned Book Week that stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.
Those challenging the banning of books include:
- Librarians
- Teachers
- Booksellers
- Community members
who fought to these keep books in library collections. Through their efforts during Banned Books Week Americans are made to be aware of First Amendments rights, the power of literature and to draw attention to the dangers that exist when restraints are imposed on information in a free society.
Banned and Challenged Books
There is a difference between challenging and banning a book. According to ALA:
- A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials from curriculum or library, based upon an objections of a person or group, restricting the access of others.
- A banning is the removal of materials.
At time, challenges are motivated by wanting to protect children from "inappropriate" sexual content of "offensive" language. Reasons given are that material:
- Was considered to be sexually explicit
- Contained offensive language
- Was unsuited to any age group.
However, censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or any other reason, violates the First Amendment.
Banned or Challenged Books
Among the books that have been challenged or banned are:
- Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling from 1997-2007 that features a modern-day Merlin, witchcraft, sorcery and rebellion against authority. In 2007, her assertion that Dumbledore was gay added to the outcry.
- The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 that was condemned by conservative clergy because of its theme of adultery. It was still being challenged in 1999.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury in 1953 about a society that burns books to snuff out original thought in which a group of academics memorize literature to preserve it for future use.
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinback in 1939 that used "cuss words", and was challenged or banned in ten states including California, New York and Illinois.
The long list banned or challenged books include:
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- The Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Some of these books were sanitized so that schools would buy copies.
The list of authors who have had books challenged or banned range from as early as the year 1791 when The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was published to the present.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by:
- American Booksellers Association
- American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
- American Library Association
- American Society of Journalists and Authors
- Association of American Publishers
- National Association of College Stores,
and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library.
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