Banned Books 2011  

Banned Books Week is an effort to celebrate our freedom to read and raise awareness when challenges to that freedom are made. The American Library Association (ALA) plays a critical role in this celebrartion as well as other organizations such as the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, and  American Society of Journalists and Authors among others. 

Check out our Banned Book Week display in front of the circulation desk featuring 16 commonly banned/challenged books.   

Why?

The ALA states, "that books are often challenged with the best intentions to protect others..." and that the top 3 reasons for doing so are:

1. the material was considered to be "sexually explicit"
2. the material contained "offensive language"
3. the materials was "unsuited to any age group"

"If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

Interview by John Pilger on BBC's The Late Show, November 25, 1992.

"If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise."

In Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, 1992. (WikiQuote)