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Banned Books Week

bannedbookweek.jpg

www.bannedbooksweek.org

A great cause for activism and celebration…especially because it's so easy to do! Every year, the American Library Association hosts its annual Banned Books Week, during which libraries all across America take steps to make people aware of censorship. This has been held during the last week of September since 1982, and the official goal is "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."

Celebrating Banned Books Week is easy for most Americans: just look at the American Library Association's list of "challenged" books (i.e. books that people, organizations, and governments have tried to censor), find as many books as you want, and go ahead and read them! The fun part comes when you find an entry on the list that will surprise you. "Harry Potter? Twilight?" They banned those books? You'd be surprised at the list of books that have had the honor of becoming banned books. This is probably the most important reason for promoting Banned Books Week. Chances are, a book that is important to you is actually a banned book!

(A posting to the Freefall discussion board by "wdag," September 21, 2009: "Years ago, the local library invited patrons to bring in a favorite "banned book" and read an excerpt, expecting things like Ulysses or Lady Chatterly's Lover. I brought in a copy of Kitchen-Improvised Plastic Explosives and started to read one formula – at which point the librarian stopped me and said I couldn't read that, and I looked at her, asking "Banned book?" The library never scheduled such readings again.")

2009 update: In 2009, the importance of Banned Books Week hit home to the Church of the SubGenius…on October 4, the day after the "official" end of Banned Books Week. On October 4, 2009, the ''Book of the SubGenius'' officially became a banned book.

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