Check out Cecily von Ziegesar, Lauren Myracle, and ALA president Camila Alire in this video from the annual Banned Books Week Read-Out!, held Saturday, September 26 in Chicago’s historic Bughouse Square. Also featured, a reading from Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre troupe.
Also below are some photos – you can see lots more at the ALA Flickr site.
Enjoy!
Video courtesy of AL Focus.
To kick off Banned Books Week 2009, our new Banned Books Week PSA featuring the puppets from “Crash Pad” is out!
Watch as Chad, Rustle, and Mooch misinterpret the meaning of Banned Books Week and Herb comes to the rescue. Also check it out at AL Focus.
The American Library Association, the McCormick Freedom Museum, and the Newberry Library invite you to join us along with ALA President Camila Alire and frequently challenged author Chris Crutcher, in a FREE event to celebrate your freedom to read! The Banned Books Week Read-Out! will take place Saturday, September 26, from noon to 2:00 PM in historic Bughouse Square, located at 901 N Clark St., in Chicago, IL.
The event features authors from the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008, who will talk about their experiences as targets of censors and will also read from their works. Authors scheduled to appear are Sarah Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding; Cecily von Ziegesar, author of the Gossip Girl series; Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Lauren Myracle, author of ttyl, ttfn, and l8r g8r (internet girl series); and Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, co-authors of And Tango Makes Three. The CityLit Theatre Company and the Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre Troupe will perform dramatic readings of some of these works.
Immediately following the program, we will host a book signing and an open mic (2:00 pm to 3:00 pm). The authors and their publishers have graciously donated 100 copies of their works to give away to attendees. Musician Matt Ryd will kick-off the open mic portion of the event with censored music. If you would like to participate in the open mic portion of the event, please contact Jen Hammond at jhammond@ala.org for more information.
For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks. We hope to see you at the Read-Out!
Have you ever wondered where challenges to books in the United States actually occur? A new book censorship map featured on the BannedBooksWeek.org site illustrates that censorship efforts take place all across the country. The Google map displays more than 120 book challenges—from Maine to Florida and from Long Island, New York, to San Francisco, California—that have occurred since the beginning of 2007. These challenges represent a small portion of those recorded, and have been culled from cases documented by the Kids’ Right to Read Project, which is sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the American Library Association’s “Books Challenged or Banned in 2007-2008″ (pdf) list, by Robert P. Doyle.
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom provides confidential support to teachers and librarians and tracks challenges that occur. ALA recorded 513 challenges in 2008 but estimates that this reflects only 20-25% of actual incidents, as most challenges are never reported.
For assistance with challenges to library materials, services, or programs, please contact Angela Maycock, Assistant Director, Office for Intellectual Freedom, 800-545-2433, ext. 4221, or the Office for Intellectual Freedom, 800-545-2433, ext. 4223 or visit the Challenges to Library Materials page on the ALA Web site.
Banned Books Week 2009 runs from September 26-October 3.
One of the advantages I’ve discovered as a guest blogger is the relative freedom to ride ones own hobby horse. Well, I have a favorite for today. Banned Books Week (BBW). Or, more accurately, the people who complain that BBW is inaccurate, that the name is at best disingenuous and and at worse downright dishonest.
The argument goes thusly. Most books on the annual ALA list of banned and challenged books were “only” challenged, never banned. Even if some were removed from libraries, they are still available for purchase in book stores. Therefore, censorship hasn’t really happened because the government hasn’t banned the books.
Sounds to me as if these folks are second cousins to the young man who gave new meaning to the word chutzpah. When charged with murdering his parents he asked for leniency because he was an orphan! Chutzpah! Hey, since folks were unsuccessful in their efforts to get these books banned, you can’t use them as examples of the threat of censorship. We failed therefore you’re being dishonest. Chutzpah!
Run that by me again? Just because libraries and librarians have been so good at defending the freedom of the public to read as they choose, means that we’re being dishonest? No, it just means were doing our job.
As for whether removing books from libraries is censorship or not, public and school libraries are government bodies. If they buckle under to challenges and remove books from the shelves, they remove those books from the reach of the average citizen. If censorship involves the government restricting access to information, they are most certainly engaged in censorship.
As for still being available for purchase, that is true for most of the books in our libraries. If you follow that line of logic, we might as well close up shop. There would be no reason to have a public library. You want a book; go buy it.
So, in a few months when Banned Books Week rolls around and someone challenges it for being misleading, gently point out the error of their logic. Or just shout Chutzpa and let them figure it out.
(c) Stephanie Piro thesixchix.com Reprinted with permission.
We were so pleased that Stephanie Piro, from the Goodwin Library in Farmington, New Hampshire, shared her wonderful cartoons celebrating Banned Books Week with us — and we couldn’t resist sharing them with our readers.
Check out Stephanie’s artwork and more at the Six Chix comic strip website. Thanks to Stephanie for lending her considerable talent to promoting Banned Books Week!
Also, if you haven’t done so, check out Unshelved’s excellent “Bland Books Week” series from August 11-15. Here’s a sample:
(c) Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum unshelved.com Reprinted with permission.
And for those who missed the Chicago Read-Out!, or want to relive the good times, click on the images below to see a couple of videos that captured the moment:
Pictured: Author Lauren Myracle with special guests Ron Koertge and Nanette Perez
Author Stephen Chbosky reads from a letter by one of his fans
Thanks to everyone who worked to make Banned Books Week so successful around the nation! Mark your 2009 calendars for next year’s Banned Books Week celebration, scheduled for September 26-October 3.
Author Sara Paretsky at the 2008 Banned Books Week Read-Out!
During a gorgeous afternoon this past Saturday, over a thousand Chicagoans and visitors saw a wonderful event.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, the McCormick Freedom Museum, and the Chicago Tribune hosted another Banned Books Week Read-Out! in Pioneer Plaza on Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile.” Among the all-star authors in attendance:
These heroes were there to talk about what it feels like to be a banned/challenged author, read from their own banned/challenged work, and sign copies of their (free) books, provided courtesy of their publishers.
Local Chicago celebrities were also in attendence, including Achy Obejas, Luis Alberto Urrea, Ilene Cooper, Dawn Turner Trice, Mary Schmich, Sara Paretsky and Eric Zorn.
Read more about the event at Eric Zorn’s blog and Galleycat.
Also, check out this great interview with Judy Blume in advance of the event.
Banned Books Week starts tomorrow, and runs through next Saturday, October 4. It’s been a big week at OIF and ALA–our new, stylish, and easy-to-navigate website is up and running, which means we have links and news to share:
Banned Books Week Dot Org
Banned Books Week co-sponsor ABFFE helped to put up a great new resource, bannedbooksweek.org; it includes a list dozens of Banned Books Week events by state. Find one near you! (If you know of an event that’s not listed, you can submit it by clicking here.)
Banned Books Read-Out! 2008
The Headquarters Read-Out! just keeps getting better and better. Who will be there? Here’s a clue: “Are you there, God?” Click the logo to get all the details.
Banned Books Comes to Second Life
Not in Chicago? You can still participate in Banned Books Week Events in Second Life. Check out the schedule of events!
Peruse the Banned Books Week Press Release.
And finally, Banned Books Week posters, bookmarks, bracelets, and other goodies can be purchased at the ALA Store. You also can download the “short list” of books banned or challenged in 2007-2008 for free at the Illinois Library Association’s website.
For a second consecutive year, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning “And Tango Makes Three,” a children’s book about two male penguins caring for an orphaned egg, tops the list of ALA’s 10 Most Challenged Books.
The 2007 list includes three books that haven’t been included in the Top Ten list before: “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes; “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman; and “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle.
“Free access to information is a core American value that should be protected,” said Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Not every book is right for each reader, but an individual’s interpretation of a book should not take away my right to select reading materials for my family or myself.”
For more than 15 years, OIF has released the list of most frequently challenged books, based on reports we receive in the office. 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. In 2007 we received 420 reports on efforts to abolish materials from school curriculum and library bookshelves.
Public libraries, schools and school libraries report challenges to OIF, but a majority of challenges go unreported.
The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2007″ reflect a range of themes, and comprises the following titles:
1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language
4. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reason: Religious Viewpoint
5. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reason: Racism
6. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language
7. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reason: Sexually Explicit
9. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
Off the list this year are two books by author Toni Morrison–”The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved,” both challenged for sexual content and offensive language, were #5 and #9, respectively, on the 2006 Top Ten list.
The Top Ten list is featured in many libraries’ and schools’ Banned Books Week exhibits and events. This year’s Banned Books Week celebration begins on September 27 and runs through October 4.
For more information on book challenges and censorship, please visit Challenged and Banned Books. For help with challenges, visit Support for Dealing with or Reporting Challenges to Library Materials. For ideas on how to celebrate Banned Books Week, visit Action Guide, Suggested Activities.
AL Focus has a nifty short video up with clips from Saturday’s Read-Out! Check it out!
This report from the Banned Books Read-Out!, held September 29 in Chicago, features ALA President Loriene Roy and Judith Krug from ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom speaking on the importance of choosing your own reading material, and authors Carolyn Mackler and Chris Crutcher on how librarians “save our lives daily.”
