Cross-posted to bannedbooksweek.org

We are already halfway through Banned Books Week, and the response has been overwhelming! There have been so many events, articles, and conversations that it’s hard to keep up. Once again the creativity of those marking this occasion continues to impress.

Here are just a few standouts:

• Dav Pilkey, Creator of CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, the number one most banned book in 2013, created this video on banning books.
• Sherman Alexie, one of the most frequently challenged authors in America, discusses book banning, censorship, and the erotic novel in this video.
• Jeff Bridges, actor, and banned authors Ana Castillo and Lois Lowry join hundreds for the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out. Check back to www.youtube.com/bannedbooksweek for more videos including one from legendary comic creator, Stan Lee (coming soon).
• Books, Inc., an independently owned and operated bookseller in California created this promotional video for Banned Books Week.
• Mooresville Public LIbrary, of Mooresville, Indiana, created another promotional video for Banned Books Week.
• A “Which Banned Book Are You” quiz was developed by librarians at Columbus State Community College (CSCC) in Ohio to celebrate Banned Books Week. CSCC is one of seven recipients of grants from the Freedom to Read Foundation’s Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund.
• Jeff Smith, best-selling author of the graphic album series BONE, wrote this Reading Rainbow blog on behalf of Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community —- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types —- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Association of College Stores, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, and Project Censored. Banned Books Week is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress

More information is available at www.bannedbooksweek.org