Banned Books Week (9/26 - 10/3)

Do YOU read banned books? Have you read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Have you read Heather Has Two Mommies? Have you read Go Ask Alice? Each September, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Sponsored and supported by many organizations, including the American Library Association, to which the STCC Library belongs, libraries across the U. S. observe Banned Books Week during the last week of September. Having an informed and educated population makes a democracy work. Free and open access to information is critical! Banned Books Week encourages our nation to consider and reflect on the harms of censorship. The STCC Library has a display that recognizes the actual or attempted challenges to books throughout the U. S.

Intellectual freedom, including accessing and expressing concepts that might be outside the mainstream or that many consider unpopular recognizes that everyone has voice. Opinions and ideas that may even be repugnant must be included so that educated individuals can consider, accept or discard these ideas.

As a librarian, I know that fear is not the way to support discussion. Many librarians, booksellers, teachers and community members, such as library boards of trustees worked to make sure that challenged books remained in communities. Without their actions, dozens if not scores of materials might be removed from libraries, bookstores and schools.

Banned Books Week is a teachable moment, one where we learn how First Amendment Rights support an informed and intellectually vital citizenry. The American Library Association asks us to consider how many books would be challenged or restrained if nobody taught the importance of First Amendment rights, as the individuals making up the groups noted below do.

The American Library Association's website provided the following information:
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Support Banned Books Week. Read Banned Books!