We just finished another Banned Book Week on October 2. This is an annual event established by the American Library Association in 1982 when Judith Krug, the director, at that time, of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, wanted to celebrate writer’s works and the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of expression. Since then, ALA has been joined in sponsorship by the American Booksellers Association, the Library of Congress Center for the Book, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Association of College Stores, the Association of American Publishers and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Since its inception, Banned Book Week has highlighted many really good books that we would not be able to read had it not been for the courage of the people who fight for our freedom to read. You can check out the many books that have been challenged over the years by searching the internet. There are too many different lists to put them in this blog.
I now notice that people are upset that librarians and schools are removing books from the shelves of libraries all over the US. This is not the case. Librarians fight to uphold the Constitution by fighting books challenged by people who use the libraries and go to bookstores. I am sure that someone can find something wrong with every book on a library’s shelves or in any bookstore. So if we removed all of these challenged books from the shelves, we would no longer have libraries and bookstores; then it follows that we would have no more writers, so no more exchange of ideas and pleasure of reading.
Aren’t you glad that librarians and bookstores fight for your right to write? I sure am!
Since its inception, Banned Book Week has highlighted many really good books that we would not be able to read had it not been for the courage of the people who fight for our freedom to read. You can check out the many books that have been challenged over the years by searching the internet. There are too many different lists to put them in this blog.
I now notice that people are upset that librarians and schools are removing books from the shelves of libraries all over the US. This is not the case. Librarians fight to uphold the Constitution by fighting books challenged by people who use the libraries and go to bookstores. I am sure that someone can find something wrong with every book on a library’s shelves or in any bookstore. So if we removed all of these challenged books from the shelves, we would no longer have libraries and bookstores; then it follows that we would have no more writers, so no more exchange of ideas and pleasure of reading.
Aren’t you glad that librarians and bookstores fight for your right to write? I sure am!
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