Every year, hundreds of works from authors ranging from Dr. Seuss to Ernest Hemingway are challenged or banned from schools and libraries around the nation. The POP Project believes that everybody deserves a good book, and that the freedom to read and access to books are paramount to a healthy community.
That’s why every year POP participates in national Banned Books Week celebrations to draw attention to this issue and stand up for banned books.
For 2014, Banned Books Week falls from September 21-27 and will focus thematically on the issues surrounding controversial comic books and graphic novels. According to Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee:
“This year we spotlight graphic novels because, despite their serious literary merit and popularity as a genre, they are often subject to censorship.”
According to a recent press release, graphic novels regularly show up on the American Library Association’s (ALA) most frequently challenged book lists. Most recently, a South Carolina university took a controversial stance against Alison Bechdel’s acclaimed memoir, Fun Home. In 2013, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis faced an attempted ban in the Chicago Public Schools System, and both SideScrollers (Matthew Loux) and Neonomicon (Alan Moore) faced challenges, as well. Other graphic novels that frequently appear on the Top 10 list of Frequently Challenged books are Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Jeff Smith’s series, Bone.
Save the Date!
The POP Project is hosting a family-friendly Banned Books Week event downtown on Friday, September 26 to celebrate the beauty and literary merit of graphic novels. We encourage you to save the date, and stay tuned for more information about the event once details are officially released.
We’ve got some great ideas lined up and can’t wait to share them with you!
How much do you know about Banned Books Week?
Banned Books Week is an annual September event hosted by the ALA and others that celebrates the freedoms outlined by the First Amendment, including the freedom to read. Many challenges are made with valiant intentions, such as to protect children and the community from difficult ideas. The purpose of Banned Books Week is to promote education over censorship by drawing attention to the harms of censorship and highlighting the benefits of intellectual freedom and access to information.
Books, graphic novels, and comics featured during the Banned Books Week have been challenged in communities around the country by parents, schools, community boards, and other organizations. Thanks to the efforts of booksellers, librarians, teachers, and community members, many book challenges have failed and the books have remained in circulation.
Books Challenged or Banned 2012-2013:
http://www.ila.org/BannedBooks/BBW_2012-2013_Shortlist.pdf
For more information about Banned Books Week: