Banned Books Week

September 27

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October 

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BANNED Books Week (BBW) is the annual celebration of the freedom to read.  Across the country, libraries and bookstores draw attention to the problem of censorship by creating displays of challenged books, and bringing this issue to the attention of you, our patrons.

MORE than 113,000 books have been challenged since 1982 (the inception of BBW), and several have made repeated appearances on lists across the years.  It is unfortunate that the actions of few can harm so many.  As a library we strongly believe in and fully support the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those that may not be of popular opinion.

HERE'S a sample of books challenged just last year (and you'll find the library owns and loans out all of them):

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexis

Reasons: anti-family, offensive language, sex education, depictions of bullying

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Reasons: offensive language, political viewpoint, socially offensive

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Reason: sexually explicit

SHOW your support by raising awareness of the ongoing threat of censorship by reading a banned or challenged book.  Take a picture of your reading it and email it to teens@eipl.org for a change to win a prize.  Contest for grades 7-12, from 9.27.15-10.3.15.  Entrants must include their name and grade in the email; the winner will be chosen at random.

FOR more information on Banned Books Week and the books that get challenged visit here and here.  You can also check out the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  They have a wealth of information on the particular vulnerability of comic books to challenges due to the power of static images used in the medium.