Contact: Larra Clark, Press Officer
312-280-5043
For Immediate Release
July 9, 2003
Open Your Mind: Libraries, bookstores celebrate Banned Books Week, September 20-27
Thousands of bookstores and libraries nationwide will celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 20-27. They will mark the occasion with displays and readings of books that have been banned or threatened throughout history, from the Bible and “Little Red Riding Hood” to Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” Observed since 1982, the annual event is a celebration of the freedom to read and reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.
“The ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely are core American values,” said Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom. “We hope Banned Books Week helps to remind Americans of the importance of our freedom at a time when freedoms are being eroded in the United States. Now – more than ever – we must let freedom read.”
Banned Books Week 2003 has the theme “Open Your Mind to a Banned Book.” It is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of American Publishers and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress. Posters, bookmarks, pins and T-shirts featuring the theme are available for purchase and can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/gfhc.
Oprah’s Book Club selection of Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” put the 51-year-old book on the New York Times bestseller list, and encouraged Americans to return to classic literature: http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/login/obc_login_intro.jhtml?_requestid=11826. Like many classic novels, including “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “East of Eden” has been subject to several attempts to remove it from library bookshelves. Called “ungodly and obscene” in Anniston, Ala., it was removed, then reinstated on a restricted basis in the town’s school libraries in 1982. Greenville, S.C., schools also saw a challenge to the book in 1991.
“Unfortunately, any book can come under attack for any reason,” said Chris Finan, president of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. “Steinbeck’s books have been deemed ‘filthy’ and ‘profane,’ while Maurice Sendak’s popular ‘In the Night Kitchen’ has been challenged for nudity. I hope families will pick up a banned book and read it and discuss it together.”
In the first legal challenge to a restriction on the use of Harry Potter books in the public schools, a federal judge in April ordered a school district in Cedarville, Ark., to return J.K. Rowling's books to the open shelves of its libraries. A student and her parents sued the Cedarville school board last year after it removed the books in response to a complaint that the books show "that there are 'good witches' and 'good magic'" and that they teach "parents/teachers/rules are stupid and something to be ignored."
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded more than 7,000 book challenges since 1990, including 515 in 2002. It is estimated that less than one-quarter of all challenges are reported and recorded. A “challenge” is defined as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school about a book’s content or appropriateness. The majority of challenges (roughly 60 percent) are brought by parents, followed by library patrons and administrators. Each challenge represents an effort to remove books from school curricula or library shelves.
“Not every book will be right for every reader, but the freedom to choose for ourselves from a full array of possibilities is a hard-won right that we must not take for granted in this country,” said Judith Platt, director of the Association of American Publishers’ Freedom to Read program.
For more information on Banned Books Week, please visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks/.
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