“Freedom to Read” week starts September 30, 2012
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It will be held between September 30, 2012 and October 6. The event highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, this is a celebration of the freedom to read as opposed to book banning and censorship.
The American Library Association compiles a list each year of the top ten most frequently challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
See if you’ve read or are familiar with the following books that are the 2011 Top Ten banned books. Following each are the reasons they were banned from libraries and schools.
1] TTYL by Lauren Myracle: banned for offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.
2] The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa: banned for nudity, sex education and explicit.
3] The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins: banned for anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, violence and occult/satanic.
4] My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy by Dori Hillestad Butler: banned for nudity, sex education, sexually explicit.
5] The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: banned for offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit.
6] Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: banned for nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint.
7] Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: banned for insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint and sexually explicit.
8] What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones: banned for nudity, offensive language, and sexually explicit.
9] Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar: banned for drugs, offensive language and sexually explicit.
10] To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: banned for offensive language and racism.
WHEN WILL THIS COUNTRY, STOP CRIMES BY GOVERNMENT?
When will The Civil Code be the only Law?
Since every state as well as the federal government have laws and statutes that criminalize certain acts, we will always have laws that we must abide by or face the consequences. At the same time, we also have rights – constitutional rights that give us certain freedoms. That’s why we’re celebrating your freedom to read this week. Even if a school or library bans a certain book, the government cannot stop you from reading it on your own.