In 2005, close to 500
challenges were made against U.S. libraries for offering access to specific
books. Year after year, patrons attempt to remove classics like
Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird as well as new
non-fiction and fiction books from local library collections. Snow
Falling on Cedars, The Hobbit, the Harry Potter books, and a number of
works by Judy Blume are consistently challenged in school and public
libraries across Texas.
Banned Books Week events
celebrate our freedom to read without censure. It is a hallmark of our
intellectual freedom, that we may devise our own lines of inquiry and
experience ideas that are new, radical, unorthodox, or unpopular.
In conjunction with several
academic departments, the library hosted a number of events during the 2005
BBW. Due to popular demand and positive reception, a number of events have
been scheduled for 2006.
What: Readings from banned
books by faculty, students, and staff
When: Monday Sept 25 thru
Thursday Sept 28 during the noon hour
Where: In front of the
library portico
And: Refreshments will
be served and prizes will be raffled
What: Banned Books Week
evening event featuring readings and
commentary by local writers
When: Thursday September 28th
Where: Chapman Hall
“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in
itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime . . . .”
— Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart,
dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)
