Banned Books Week 2008

Today officially kicks of Banned Books Week 2008. This was started by the American Library Association in 1982 to raise awareness of all of the books various people have tried to censor in our history. Most of these efforts are in schools and public libraries, but it occasionally affects academic libraries as well.

I love this week each year because I love to read and many of my favorite books are on the lists of most frequently challenged books. I have invited other members of the library staff to submit stories about their favorite banned books, and those will appear here this week, starting with my own.


Also, vote for your favorite banned book. Your vote will enter you into a raffle to win a $5 gift certificate to the campus store. Faculty and staff's votes will be entered into the raffle to win a $2 Jazzman's gift certificate.


You can also join Amy Rogers (professor in the Education Dept.) and myself for a discussion of banned books in schools. We will talk about the history of book censorship, censorship in schools, and how schools and teachers should handle complaints. This program will take place in the library's classroom on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and will include drinks and food from frequently banned books.



I will never understand how anyone could argue with To Kill a Mockingbird, which I often argue is one of the best books ever written. It transcends gender, racial, and age differences... it has something to appeal to everyone. There are such powerful messages about growing up and respecting people who are different than you, and it was so ahead of its time when it was written. The argument is against the racial slurs that appear in it, but it is very bad people who say those in a very painful scene. I have given this book as a gift so many times, particularly to my non-American friends. It is one I wish everyone would read, and learn from.

-- Mary Broussard