Lucy Naylor Kubash

This is Banned Books Week!

Every year the last week in September is designated Banned Books Week by the American Library Association. To help us celebrate our freedom to read, the ALA event this year is September 26-October 3.

Begun in 1982, Banned Books Week serves to remind us all of our intellectual freedom and the right to seek information and read what we choose. A challenged book means there has been an attempt to remove it somewhere. Banned means material was removed. Here is just a short list of some well-known challenged and/or banned books:

The Call of the Wild
The Lord of the Rings
The Great Gatsby
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Color Purple
1984
Gone With the Wind

Authors and readers alike need to guard this freedom and treasure it. That doesn't mean we all need to read or even like the same thing, but we must protect our right to write and read the books of our choosing. Remember to thank your friendly librarian and bookseller for helping promote and protect this right, and celebrate your freedom to read!