Banned Books Weeks is somewhat of a misnomer. ALA officials say the event is really about:
* celebrating our freedom to read.
* emphasizing the importance of the right to express opinions, no matter how unorthodox or unpopular.
* ensuring the availability of such views to all who wish to read them.
ALA officials say these principles are challenged hundreds of time each year. Books are rarely banned, they add, but many are "challenged." The challenges often come in the form of a formal, written complaints that are filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
According to the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, 546 challenges were received last year nationwide.
"The number of challenges reflects only incidents reported and for each reported, four or five remain unreported," says Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA's office for Intellectual Freedom.
Nanette Alderman, manager of the West Jordan Branch Library, has received few challenges. She likes to use Banned Books Week to illuminate the breadth of titles challenged by different individuals or groups in society.
She says many people think that only risqué and "obvious" books are challenged. They don't realize, she adds, that many of their favorite books have probably been challenged by people demanding their removal from a library or institution.
Alderman has worked as a public librarian in four states for a combined 12 years. She has learned that someone can find something objectionable about any book, and every person feels his or her objection is completely reasonable.
One of the most interesting experiences was that of a woman who objected to a toddler book Ð a board book with about 15 pages. It was a book about brothers, and each page had a picture of the brothers doing different activities such as raking leaves and playing ball.
Alderman says the woman objected to a picture that showed the brothers in the bathtub. One child was seated in the tub, with only his head and shoulders visible above the water. The other child, who was less than 1 years old, was standing naked with his back to the camera.
The woman insisted the book was pornographic. She and her granddaughter were very upset and wanted the book should be removed from the library.
Quoting the ALA, Alderman says: "Censorship occurs when expressive materials, like books, magazines, films and videos, or works of art, are removed or kept from public access."
She says public libraries serve everyone in the community, and not everyone has the same standards or beliefs. She maintains everyone has the right to read and enjoy or object to any book in the library and to let those views be known.
"But individuals only have the right to decide what is appropriate for themselves and those for whom they are responsible," Alderman adds. "No one has the right to decide that something is not appropriate for another person. When a person or group tries to have material removed from a public institution, they are saying that they are the deciders for all people who use that institution."
Alderman further notes that some of her favorite books are on the 100 most-challenged list - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, The Giver by Lois Lowry, A Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
"I'm glad I didn't miss the hours of enjoyment and deep thought engendered by these titles because they had been removed from my school or public library," Alderman says. "Banned Books Week is an attempt to increase awareness that when someone tries to ban a book, it may be a book you value. And when you try to remove a book, it may be one someone else values."
At the top of the ALA's 2006 list of most-challenged books nationally is Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's award-winning And Tango Makes Three, which is about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple. It was challenged due to issues about homosexuality.
The list also includes two books by Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye and Beloved. The books were challenged because of sexual content and offensive language.
Off the list last year, but on the roster for several years prior, are J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books rank as the most-challenged series of the 21st century thus far. Some people argue the books promote witchcraft to children.
Whatever one's reading preference, Banned Books Week is a reminder not to take the freedom to read for granted. The county library system encourages people to check out and read some of the books that have been challenged, censored and/or banned over the years.
The numbers
Between 1990 and 2000, of the 6,364 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom:
* 1,607 were challenges to "sexually explicit" material .
* 1,427 to material considered to use "offensive language."
* 1,256 to material considered "unsuited to age group."
* 842 to material with an "occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism."
* 737 to material considered to be "violent."
* 515 to material with a homosexual theme or "promoting homosexuality."
* 419 to material "promoting a religious viewpoint."
Other reasons for challenges included "nudity," "racism," "sex education," and "anti-family."
Note: The number of challenges and the number of reasons for those challenges do not match, because works are often challenged on more than one ground.
Source: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/ bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/ challengedbanned.htm
Find out more
* More information on banned books can be found on the American Library Association's Web site at www.ala.org. Salt Lake County Library Services may be reached by calling 801-943-4636, or by going online at www.slco.lib.ut.us.
* A list of the top 10 challenged books for 2006 can be found on Page T3
* The top reasons for challenges to books can be found on Page T3
Banned Books Week, All Salt Lake Zones 5 - According to the ALA, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose have attempted - and continue to attempt - to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs. Photo by Pomera M. Fronce at Whitmore Library (Salt Lake County) September 2007.
The "10 Most-Challenged Books of 2006"
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 546 challenges last year. 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. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.
The "10 Most Challenged Books of 2006" reflect a range of themes and consist of the following titles:
And Tango Makes Three
By Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family and unsuited to age group.
Gossip Girls
Series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group and offensive language.
Alice
Series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language.
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
By Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language and unsuited to age group.
The Bluest Eye
By Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language and unsuited to age group.
Scary Stories
Series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence and insensitivity.
Athletic Shorts
By Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
By Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language and unsuited to age group.
Beloved
By Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content and unsuited to age group.
The Chocolate War
By Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language and violence.
Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Source: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm
