Banned Books Week Past and Present

Banned Books Week is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Banned Books Week 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.

Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of the most challenged books of the year. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Here are the ten most frequently challenged books in 2002:

1) Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, for its focus on wizardry and magic.
2) Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, for being sexually explicit, using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
3) "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier (the "Most Challenged" book of 1998), for using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
4) "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, for sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
5) "Taming the Star Runner" by S.E. Hinton, for offensive language.
6) "Captain Underpants" by Dav Pilkey, for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.
7) "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, for racism, insensitivity and offensive language.
8) "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson, for offensive language, sexual content and Occult/Satanism.
9) "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor, for insensitivity, racism and offensive language.
10) "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George, for sexual content, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.

Click on the icon below for much more information on banned books...

Every year Northtown Books celebrates Banned Books Week with a window display featuring books that have been banned, information on those organizations and individuals who try to ban them and the history of the suppression of ideas. Here is a photo gallery of some of the best displays from Northtown's Banned Books Week celebration over the years.

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