Banned Books Week: What You Need to Know

The importance of the First Amendment and the concept of "intellectual freedom" might not always be readily apparent to most kids, but Banned Books Week is a great opportunity to make those lessons come alive for children—and adults.

Banned Books Week, which begins today, is held annually during the last week of Sept. (Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2012). The week is an occasion for libraries and bookstores across the U.S. to help folks realize just how real and ongoing a problem censorship is.

Compared to the rest of the nation, few libraries in our area (including the Greenville County Library System) plan much in the way of celebrating BBW. Some exceptions: 

Ralph Chandler Middle School in Simpsonville will celebrate the week by displaying once-banned books in its media center.

Greenville Tech's Barton Campus Library, at 506 S. Pleasantburg Dr., is displaying books that have been banned or challenged over the years. Drop by to find out why books — some considered to be literary classics — have come under fire. 

The Governor's School of the Arts & Humanities in Greenville, also will be noting BBW in its library all through the week.

In addition to classics that have been banned, many banned or challenged books are modern titles. One oft-banned book in some school districts across the country even has Upstate ties. Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison, which is semi-autobiographical in nature, was published in 1992. Set in Allison’s hometown of Greenville, and narrated by Ruth Anne “Bone” Boatwright, the primary conflict occurs between Bone and her mother’s husband, Glen, who beats and rapes her. 

Just because BBW is not being widely noted locally doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the week on your own. All you have to do is visit a local library branch or bookstore and pick up some books for yourself.

Our local Greenville Library System branches:

• W. Jack Greer Branch, 800 West Butler Road, Mauldin
• Hendricks Branch, 626 NE Main St, Simpsonville
• Kerry Ann Younts Culp Branch 311 North Main St Fountain Inn

Local bookstores:

• Mr. K's Used Books, 101 Verdae Blvd, Greenville 
• BookQuest Used Books, 108 S. Main St., Fountain Inn 
• Fiction Addiction, 1175 Woods Crossing Rd, Greenville
• Books-A-Million, 2465 Laurens Road, Greenville  
• Barnes & Noble, The Shops at Greenridge, 1125 Woodruff Road, Greenville 
• Book Gallery, 622 NE Main St., Simpsonville  
• Barnes & Noble, 735 Haywood Road, Greenville

Most book challenges launched locally by parents

More than 11,000 books have been challenged (though not necessarily successfully censored) since 1982, the inaugural year of Banned Books Week. According to the American Library Association (ALA), the vast majority of challenges to books are initiated locally by parents, likely in well-meaning attempts to protect their children. 

Last year, there were 326 challenges reported to the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, based on everything from offensive language, to violence, insensitivity, religious viewpoint and sexual explicitness. In addition to those challenges, the ALA estimates that as many as 60 to 70 percent of challenges may go unreported.

Over the past year, the 10 most challenged titles were:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle 

2. The Color of Earth (series) by Kim Dong Hwa


3. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy by Dori Hillestad Butler

5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

6. Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

8. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

9. Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily Von Ziegesar

10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Among banned and challenged classics you’re likely familiar with are:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Ulysses by James Joyce
• The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
• The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• Beloved and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

If you’re interested in celebrating Banned Books Week as part of a lesson for your kids—or simply to feel like a rebellious reader—check out these additional resources:

• Mapping Censorship, a visual representation of places books have been challenged in the US, created from cases documented by the ALA and the Kids’ Right to Read Project
• Virtual Read-Out, a worldwide celebration of the freedom to read, featured on a dedicated Banned Books Week YouTube channel
• State-by-state listing of BBW events
• Banned Books Week on Facebook and Twitter
• Free BBW downloads from the ALA, like badges and Facebook cover art 

TELL US: Do you think books should be banned from schools, bookstores or libraries? If so, tell us why?