Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is just around the corner! For those of you who don't know what that means, libraries and bookstores across the nation will be promoting challenged and banned books to draw attention to censorship and to celebrate the freedom to read.

Books are challenged every year, most of the time with good intentions, but often the censorship is blatant and over-the-top. The three reasons most commonly cited for banning books are "sexually explicit", "offensive language", and "unsuited to age group". More than 11,000 books have been banned or challenged since 1982, and there were 348 challenges reported in the last year alone, including Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. So join us next week (September 24-October 1) as we celebrate the freedom to read!

For more information on Banned Book Week, please visit the American Library Association website at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm