Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (Sept. 27 - Oct. 4, 2008)


"Closing Books Shuts Out Ideas" is this years theme. Banned Books Week, observed since 1982, reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks the American Library Association's BBW's 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4).

The Library's BBW display, on the 2nd Floor, is entitled "Dare to Look at a Banned Book". It was conceived and executed by Dr. Andrea Wyman, Curriculum Librarian, and is about banned children's books. The big question is "Why was that book banned?"

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

BBW 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, National Association of College Stores, and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

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