Transcript Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week:
Celebrating the Freedom to
Read
September 29-October 4, 2008
Banned Books Week
• Celebration of an Individuals First
Amendment Rights and Intellectual
Freedom
• Resist Censorship
• Access for all
• Education
First Amendment
• Freedom of Speech
– Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
The First Amendment is often interpreted to mean Freedom of
Expression. As the written word is a form of expression, the
First Amendment can be said to protect individuals’ right to
read and write without persecution.
– Freedom to Read Statement
– Freedom to View Statement
Intellectual Freedom
•
•
Definition:
– Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and
receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides
for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all
sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
– Article 19
• “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers.”
– United Nations: 1948
• American Library Association
– Code of Ethics
– Article II
Censorship
• Definition:
– Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain
persons—individuals, groups or government officials—find objectionable
or dangerous.
Library Bill of Rights
•
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and
enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be
excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their
creation.
•
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on
current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of
partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
•
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide
information and enlightenment.
•
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of
free expression and free access to ideas.
•
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age,
background, or views.
•
VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve
should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations
of individuals or groups requesting their use.
“The Library is an open sanctuary. It is
devoted to individual intellectual inquiry
and contemplation. Its function is to
provide free access to ideas and
information. It is a haven of privacy, a
source of both cultural and intellectual
sustenance for the individual reader.
Since it is thus committed to free and open
inquiry on a personal basis, the Library
must remain open, with access to it always
guaranteed.”
– Robert Vosper, University of Kansas, Spencer Research
Library, 1970
Frequently Banned Books of 2007
1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and
Peter Parnell
2. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
3. Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7. TTYL by Lauren Myracle
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya
Angelou
9. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
10.The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen
Chbosky
Top 10 in the last 20
1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Most Frequently Banned Books of
the 21th Century
1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck
5. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
6. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
7. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. "Forever" by Judy Blume
Frequently Banned Books of the
20th Century
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Ulysses, James Joyce
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
1984, George Orwell
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Challenged in Arkansas
• 41 separate books reported to the
American Library Association.
• Bentonville, Bryant, Cedarville, Concord,
Conway, Fayetteville, Glen Rose, Hot
Springs, Little Rock, Mena, Pea Ridge,
Pine Bluff, Rogers-Hough, Searcy,
Springdale
Challenged in Arkansas
• Glen Rose
– Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• 1981, Glen Rose High School
• References to sex
• Hot Springs
– Run, Shelley, Run
• 1977, Central Junior High
• Objectionable language
Challenged in Arkansas
• Little Rock
– Blood Summer by Don Asher
• 1979, unknown location
• Returned to publisher for not meeting literary
standards
– Beach House by RL Stine (Fear Street series)
• 1996, Pulaski Heights Elem. School
• Descriptions of boys intimidating and killing girls
Challenged in Arkansas
• Bryant
– Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• 1998, Bryant school library
• “takes God’s name in vain…”
• Multiple Areas
– Harry Potter Series
• Various times and locations
• Use of magic and promotion of the occult
Want more information?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Doyle, Robert. Banned Books. Chicago: American Library
Association, 2007.
Roberts, Michelle. "Banned Books: A Pathfinder". University at
Albany. September 1, 2008
<http://www.albany.edu/~mr3240/isp605/>.
Lesesne, Teri S. Hit List for Young Adults 2: frequently challenged
books. Chicago: American Library Association, 2002.
Rogers, Donald, J. Banned!: Book Censorship in the Schools. New
York: Messner, 1988.
Becker, Beverly C. Hit List for Children 2: frequently challenged
books. Chicago: American Library Association, 2002.
Perez, N. "Banned Books Week". American Library Association.
September 1, 2008
<http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/banne
dbooksweek.cfm>.
Sources
• American Library Association
– www.ala.org
• United Nations
– www.un.org
• Doyle, Robert. Banned Books. Chicago: American Library
Association, 2007.