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Edited on Sat Sep-24-11 05:49 PM by tblue
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to ReadBanned 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. During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 24 through October 1. Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982. According to the American Library Association, there were 348 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2010, and many more go unreported. The 10 most challenged titles of 2010 were:
And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
Lush, by Natasha Friend Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit
Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/
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