Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries.
The story behind why a book is challenged or banned is fascinating and merits attention. What is often overlooked or just not spoken of, is the all too often practice of how many books find themselves on the list of challenged books, that have never been read.
Call it incuriousity or a group mentality that is short on thinking, this practice of challenging books that have not been read allows falsehoods to fly with nobody able to counter with facts or page numbers. The miss information, the damage done to books that deserve to be read, all because of the pernicious activity of nonreading a book you remove from the public is unforgivable. That activity deserves to be banned!
Make it your business to find out which books have been banned & challenged. I am pleased to say, many of these books are ones I choose to teach, allowing the book to stand on its own, meeting the minds of readers who think, make meaning, and come to know more about themselves and the world they live in.
More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks
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