Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 25−October 2, 2010
Banned 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.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.
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.
Your school teacher librarian and School Board have policies in place to address library materials that are challenged. Please contact the school teacher librarian if you have any questions or concerns about any of your school's library material.
TOP 10 MOST FREQUENTLY CHALLENGED BOOKS OF 2009:
1. "TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. "And Tango Make Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
4. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
6. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
7. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult
8. "The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler
9. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
10. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Comier
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