Banned Books Week 2011

Banned Books Week 2011 is being held September 24th through October 1st.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have the freedom to read whatever you want taken from you? Banned Books Week is a great time to give some thought to appreciating that freedom.

It's a time for us to remember that someone, somewhere, sometime, has tried to keep us from having access to books they thought were "improper".

They attempted to choose for us whether or not we should read a particular book.  Let's celebrate our freedom to make our own choices by reading at least one banned book this week!

I think we sometimes take being able to select reading material of our choice for granted until it comes to our attention that access to certain books are being threatened.

This has happened recently in the state where I live.  The Republic, MO school board removed three books from their school last year, because of a complaint by Wesley Scroggins, who said the books "taught principles contrary to the Bible".

One of the books,  Speak , was reinstated this year, but the ban on the other two, Slaughterhouse Five and Twenty Boy Summer , held.

Later, it was decided that these two books would be kept in the library, but in a restricted area, available only to parents and guardians.

The good news is, as the result of the ban, Sarah Ockler, author of Twenty Boy Summer, will be coming to Springfield, MO, during Banned Books Week.

Read about it in her own words here. (Opens new window.)

Also due to the ban, The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library plans to ship copies of Slaughterhouse Five to Republic, MO, families who ask for them.

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