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PRESS RELEASES
Washington
County
Public Library
205 Oak Hill Street
Abingdon
,
VA
24210
Contact: Ida Patton
276-676-6390
For publication before
September 25, 2004
Banned
Books Week Celebration
at
Washington
County
Public Library
Most Americans know about the
presidential contest in November, but the American Library Association
(ALA) and Washington County Public Library are urging Americans to
"Elect to Read a Banned Book," in honor of this year's Banned
Books Week, September 25 to October 2.
Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take for
granted their precious freedom to read.
Bookstores and libraries nationwide will help "get out the vote"
with displays and readings from books - ranging from the Bible and
"Little Red Riding Hood" to John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and
Men" - that have been banned or threatened throughout history. During
the week-long celebration, the Washington County Public Library will
display a selection of these books and the public will have an opportunity
to vote for their favorite banned or threatened book.
Each year, the ALA Office for
Intellectual Freedom (OIF) receives hundreds of reports on books and other
materials that were "challenged" by people who asked that they
be removed from school or library shelves.
In 2003, the OIF received reports of 458 challenges, defined as formal,
written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that
materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. Phyllis
Reynolds Naylor's
Alice
series topped the list in 2003, ending
the four-year reign of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. The
Alice
series, which drew complaints about the
books' sexual content, ranks No. 10 on the most challenged books list of
the 1990s.
Rounding out the top five most challenged books in 2003 were:
·
Of Mice and
Men" by John Steinbeck, for offensive language.
·
Arming
America
: The Origins of a National
Gun Culture" by Michael A. Bellesiles, for inaccuracy.
·
"Fallen
Angels" by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, sexual content, offensive
language, drugs and violence.
Most challenges in the past few years
have been reported by school libraries (41 percent), schools (33 percent),
and public libraries (18 percent), according to OIF Director Judith F.
Krug. Most challenges (63 percent) were lodged by a parent.
Off the list in 2003 after several years were "I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou (for sexual content, racism, offensive
language, violence and being unsuited to age group) and Mark Twain's
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (for racism, insensitivity,
and offensive language).
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association,
the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the
ALA
, the Association of American Publishers,
the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National
Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of
Congress Center for the Book.
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