CENSORED: Banned books continue to challenge sensibilities

William Garfield

The Signal

“There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.” – Oscar Wilde, author of “Picture of Dorian Gray,” a frequently challenged book.

The American Book Association created Banned Book Week as a way for people to understand rights granted by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Banned Book Week celebrates its 29th anniversary, which began Sept. 25 and runs through Oct. 2.

Book banning begins as a challenge, an attempt to remove or censor ideas or books. Most challenges are unsuccessful, but when a book is banned it involves the actual removal of materials, usually by the government, said Martha Steele, associate director for public services in the Alfred R. Neumann Library.

Books are banned most often for one or more of the following reasons: use of language, suggestion of homosexuality, nudity, sexually explicit, sexism, racism, religious viewpoints, inappropriate for age groups.

Parents are the number one reason for book banning, states the American Library Association website. However, books are banned by governments, religious groups, political factions, and schools.

In public schools, the book banning process begins by alerting schools that parents do not want their children to read a particular piece of literature.  Parents then form organizations or hire attorneys to formally request literary works of art in question to be removed from libraries or schools.

Forms of governance affecting the curriculum are consulted and a decision is made.

If there is a consensus that a book is not in a child’s best interest to read, then it is banned from the school library.

When a book is banned, patrons cannot readily access the book from libraries. If a reader wishes to read a book that has been banned, the reader will have to either purchase the book online or find a library that is not subject to the book ban imposed.

Berit Kjos, author of “A Twist of Faith,” supports book banning and states her concerns on newswithviews.com about the Harry Potter series, maintaining it is tougher for children to evaluate good and resist witchcraft that threatens their religious faith.

The American Library Association Bill of Rights states book banning infringes on academic freedom, “a person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”

Steele said people have to entertain ideas in order for change to take place.

“Just think if we banned every book that contained a nugget of information that may be considered taboo, the evolution of our society would stop; new ideas could potentially be curbed and progress could possibly come to a screeching halt,” Steele said.

Books that frequently make the banned book list include, but are not limited to, the following titles: “1984” and “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell; “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee; “Brave New World,” by Aldous Huxley; “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain; “The Catcher and the Rye,” by JD Sallinger and “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker.  A list of the top 100 banned books can be found on the American Libraries Association list at www.ala.org.

Judy Blume, author of challenged books “Places I Never Meant to Be” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” has been tweeting about the upcoming banned book week.

“Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own,” Blume said on her website. “If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the school library would be close to empty. I wish the censors could read the letters kids write.”

In celebration of National Book Ban Week, Mike Driver, legal chair of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Houston Chapter encouraged people to attend the ACLU’s Banned Book Discussion.

The discussion will surround J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” the sixth most frequently challenged book of 2009.

The Banned Book Discussion will be held at the Houston Central Library, 500 McKinney, 77002 on Oct. 11,  from 11 a.m. to noon with a read-out to follow.

“Ideas shouldn’t be shut out,” Driver said. “The minority seems to control the government and manipulate what people are trying to read.”