Banned Books Week: “Think for Yourself and let others do the Same”
Below are some thoughts I had as I prepared to celebrate Banned Books Week (BBW). BBW is a wonderful time to think about what is going on in the world of books around us, and whether or not we feel comfortable having others make decisions for us about what we can and cannot read. Allow me to explain…
Today began our commemoration of Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week (BBW) is celebrated nationally on the last week of Sept. and, this year, runs from Sept. 25-Oct. 2. BBW celebrates our Freedom to read (Intellectual Freedom) and the First Amendment.
Some books have been banned because people believe if they don’t like the book, then no one else in their state/city/town/school/country should have a chance to read the book. They feel that if they’re uncomfortable with the book, or don’t like something they read/saw in it, then no one else should be able to read it. By banning it, THEY have made the decision of what YOU can read FOR you.
BBW’s Theme is “Think for Yourself, and let others do the Same.” If a book is not right for one person, that is understandable because not everyone can like every book. That’s why there are so many of them being written every year all across the world. Parents and other guardians have the right to decide what their children read, but they do not have the right to make the decision for everyone else’s children about what they can and cannot read (see below.) That’s where Intellectual Freedom comes into the picture: “the freedom to read information and express ideas, even if it’s unpopular.” We all have the right to think about something, and make our own decisions as to whether or not we approve of it, because that is what makes us Americans.
The American Library Association (ALA) has a document called the Library Bill of Rights, which documents the missions of libraries. An interpretation of that document for minors states “We affirm the responsibility and the right of all parents and guardians to guide their own children’s use of the library and its resources and services.” Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources. Parents and guardians who do not want their children to have access to specific library services, materials, or facilities should so advise their children.”
Over the years, some titles that have been banned (and some reasons for banning them) include:
- “The American Heritage Dictionary” has almost 10,000 words, but was banned because it had 39 objectionable words.
- Fahrenheit 451″ is about the wrongness of book banning, but was banned because a Bible is burned in it.
- “And Tango Makes Three” is a true story about two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo who take care of an egg and raise the chick that is born. Male penguins do this all the time in real life, but the book was banned because some people felt that these are gay penguins and shouldn’t be raising children (chicks.)
- “The Outsiders” is about rich and poor teens and how they need to not judge each other, and was banned because it uses slang language.
- “Twilight” (and all the other books in the series.) It’s about a vampire who falls in love with a human and is banned because it’s about vampires.
- “Harry Potter” series. The characters in the books are witches and wizards, so it’s banned because it promotes witchcraft.
Please stop by to see our Banned Books Week displays in the Library as well as in our hall bookcase. Please teach your students and children about Intellectual Freedom: “the freedom to read information and express ideas, even if it’s unpopular.”
Stop by, and read a Banned Book (or two) today.
Think for Yourself
