Just in case you have not heard, we are in the middle of Banned Books week. This is a project of the American Library Association (ALA) intended to raise awareness of the fact that a small group of crusaders thinks they should tell you what you may or may not read.
I'm sure everyone here has heard of Banned Books Week and I cannot imagine that any Kossack has not read at least one banned book. If not, what the Hell? Personally, I have a list of 100 frequently "challenged" books and I have made it a goal in life to read them all. At last count, I was up to 22.
Follow me below the electronic fold for some ranting and raving... if you dare
When I was in the seventh grade, I was a voracious reader. I had already read through my Dad's copies of Lord of the Rings and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The closest non-Christian book store was at the mall, 30 miles away. Even when we could get there, the money was not always there to just pick up a few new paperbacks. That summer, my Mom suggested that I read a couple of books: Brave New World and 1984.
I was stuck with the local/school library. Theoretically, there were plenty of books in that tiny little library to keep me occupied until graduation day. In practice, I was stuck with the intellectual equivalent of The Pet Goat.
Why?
The library, under the leadership of librarian who was less than committed to intellectual freedom, divided the library's fiction section into "adult" and "children's" sections. The policy was that you had to be in high school (ninth grade) to check out a book from the "adult" section. I had to get a note from my Mom to get special permission to check out those books.
As you can probably tell, this episode stuck with me. It is probably a good thing my family is cool enough to encourage reading and made sure I could borrow those books. I am certain that there were (and probably still are) kids who will never get to read such subversive literature.
This was a rather passive form of censorship. Let's talk a little bit about active censorship. In 2008, the ALA documented 517 challenges. The vast plurality of targets were school libraries followed by public libraries. The majority of those challenges were initiated by "parents" with "patrons" and "administrators" close behind. Source.
Surprisingly, it is not true that more than a tiny fraction of challenges are mounted by "government." Not even by Wasillia Mayor, Vice Presidential candidate and standing joke Sarah Palin actively tried to have books banned (though she may be generally inclined to consider it).
What this boils down to is that a small group of activists have decided that they know better than you what you and your family may and may not read for free. They have decided that they or their kids will not read a book, so no one else in town should have free access to them either.
Allow me to more frank on that point: They think they are the moral arbiters of the town.
You might have visions of ultra-conservative, Freeper types leading the charge to rid the local library of Harry Potter and its Satanism lack of a mention of Christianity. Certainly that happens:
Recent book burnings have been documented in Michigan, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania. The photo above is from my home state of Pennsylvania. In Maine, the burners could not get the fire permit. (LOL @fail)
But this is not the whole story. Too often, these challenges come from the left. One example that pops up from time to time is challenges to Huckleberry Finn because of gratuitous use of "The N word."
Do me a favor: Knock that shit off. Leave the idiocy to the Right Wing.
In fairness, according to the ALA's stats, topics like racism, sexism, anti-ethnic, and insensitivity are a small part of the reasons for challenging books. The top reasons appear to be sexually explicit, language, unsuited to age, violence, homosexuality, and occult/religious.
Geez, have you ever watched prime time television?
Here's the ALA's take on it:
Although this is a commendable motivation, Free Access to Libraries for Minors, an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (ALA's basic policy concerning access to information) states that, "Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources." Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.
Emphasis mine.
I'm going to close with a list of my favorite challenged books:
Lord of the Rings
Hitchhiker's Guide
Brave New World
Animal Farm
On the Road
The Sun Also Rises
Harry Potter
Slaughter House Five
Cat's Cradle
The Merchant of Venice
A Light in the Attic
Where's Waldo (I know, right)
Update: Forgot about this. Neil Gaiman found out via Twitter last night that Coraline was being challenged in a school library.
And even more:
RT @neilhimself RT you have to dream @LKHamilton: you work at getting your books burned & I'll work on getting banned. We're only as good as our goals.