We Read Banned Books!

Banned Books Week?  How about Banned Books Month? BANNED BOOKS YEAR?! Just kidding, I am trying to make a funny about the fact that I forgot to publish this post from months ago.  I created this display for Banned Books Week 2014, September 21st - 27th.  This year, it will be from September 27th - October 3rd, 2015.

Banned Books Week is a celebration held in libraries, schools, (and even homes of some avid librarians) all over the country that celebrates our freedom to read.  The American Library Association has declared this a library celebration since 1982.  Having the right to intellectual freedom is not something to be ignored.  We still face censorship every day.

Censorship and book challenges are especially apparent within children's and young adult literature, as many people are quick to assume that they personally know what's best and/or appropriate for a child.  Just this week I had a patron "challenge" my recommendation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book to a ten-year-old girl.  Mind you, this woman was not even the child's mother and had no business in the child's reading material, but added her input anyways: "You're recommending that book to her?"  I answered that I thought it was a good recommendation for an advanced third grade reader who wanted "creepy ghost stories" (and her mother agreed), but that the little girl could decide for herself if she wanted to read it!  (In a very polite manner, of course. These things come with the territory of being a public librarian and most of what we say needs to be said with a smile! Even if I was seething on the inside).

Having an attitude that respects the importance of the freedom of information is especially important when working at public libraries, as we are gatekeepers of information for the general public.  If there is a book that someone can't find at the book store or at their school library, we should (hopefully!) have it or at least be able to find it for you.  That is our job! Rant over.

Back to the display!  I chose some selections of text from a few of my favorite banned books and blacked out portions of the text to show how much censorship can damage a message's integrity and clarity.  It proved to be an engaging display as many people tried to match the text with each book that was on display, looking for little clues in the text.  I also had some decent conversations with interested school-aged kids who hadn't yet learned about censorship and wanted to know why the books were on fire!  When I told them the reasons why Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (shares a name with a Marxist Bill Martin) and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (a disobedient child) were challenged, they started giggling.  "But that's so silly!" they exclaimed.  "I agree, my friends," I said, "I agree."

Here is a full list of books used in the above display, along with incredibly brief explanations of why they were challenged or banned:

• Where the Wild Things Are* by Maurice Sendak (Naughty boy! And a hint of surrealism!)
• Curious George by H.A. Rey (Monkeys are supposed to have tails!)
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Witchcraft AND magic, duh!)
• Charlotte's Web** by E.B. White (Talking animals!)
• And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (Homosexual penguins!)
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (Sexist!)
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (Naughty girl!)
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (Environmental awareness!)
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble* by William Steig (Pigs in uniform!)
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. (Marxist philosopher, but not really, my bad!)
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank ("Too depressing"!)
• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Anti-religion!)
• Strega Nona* by Tomie dePaola (Witchcraft!)
• In the Night Kitchen* by Maurice Sendak (A bare bottom!)

Am I a raving lunatic fan over every single one of these books? No. (Okay, besides In the Night Kitchen.  I am pretty intense about my love for that one.  And Harry Potter. And Strega Nona. Okay. Done.).  But I didn't love The Golden Compass. Just wasn't my thing!That doesn't mean no one else is allowed to like it. Or read it AT ALL.

*Randolph Caldecott Medal, award winner or honor
**John Newbery Medal, award winner
***Just saying.