2008 Woodie Awards
Banned Books
Gina Saccaro Staff Reporter
Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: A & E
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The reason for banned books week is to celebrate our first amendment rights. It is also meant to celebrate the freedom to state one's opinion even if the opinion is unpopular. Banned Books Week is recognized by librarians with lectures, displays, and discussions.
There are new books every year that become banned. Librarians, teachers, and booksellers teach the importance of the first amendment to save literature. They use Banned Books Week to teach people of the problems that could happen from imposing bans on books in a free country.
"I think it's great to have Banned Book Week. There are aspects of our society and history that might not be pretty, but keeping people ignorant of it is not a solution to anything. The mere premise of banning literature due to content is Orwellian in nature," said Rob Rood, junior, Shelton, C.T.
The reasoning for books being challenged is because groups of people try to eliminate anyone who disagrees or conflicts with their beliefs. One of these major groups are parents, who want to shelter their children from inappropriate or sexual content.
According to the American Library Association office for intellectual freedom, 547 books were challenged in 2004. A challenge on a book is not a ban; it is a written request by a school or organization requesting that certain literature be removed because of content.
"Banned Books Week reminds me of the book 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury. Our society should stop trying to ban books or challenge them just because some people don't agree with them. I also think its great how librarians and teachers are working so hard to stop people from trying to ban books. It's important for people to realize that," said Krista Caltigirone, sophomore, Wayne, N.J.
Some of the most frequently challenged books of 2004 were: "The Chocolate War", "Fallen Angels", "Arming America", "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower", "What My Mother Doesn't Know", and "Of Mice And Men." These books were challenged because of offensive language, sexuality, and violence.
Authors that were most frequently challenged in 2004 were: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Judy Blume, Toni Morrison, Robert Cormier, Chris Lynch, and Barbara Park. Classic books such as "Huckleberry Finn," "Tom Sawyer," "Ulysses," "Frankenstein," and "Black Beauty" were all challenged and banned at one point. Even the Bible and the Qur'an were banned from the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1956.
"I find it coincidental how such classic books like 'Huck Finn', and 'Frankenstein' were banned in those days and now they're known world wide. They are also taught in most high schools and everyone has heard of them," said Jessica Case, sophomore, Huntington, N.Y.
Banned Books Week may not be a nationally known, but it has a great importance. Librarians as well as teachers work hard to keep books they think are important on the shelves. Who knows, one of the books that would have been banned could be a classic.