I suspect that a lot of us feel a great distance between our reading habits and banned books because we don’t go to the library or have children who are impacted by what’s suddenly not available in the classroom or the school library.  We live busy lives. So if a book is banned in Peoria, we have little or no reason to notice it because nobody is stopping us from buying and reading the book.

This year, Banned Books Week runs between October 1-7.  According to one of the sponsors, the American Library Association (ALA), “This year’s theme is ‘Let Freedom Read.’ When we ban books, we’re closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives.”

According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, “This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.” The number of challenged books and attempted bans is increasing.

You can find a list of Banned Books Week events here, along with book ban data.

We need to be aware of all this,  I think, to protect our freedom to read what we want even if the issues appear to be far away.

—Malcolm