Clash and Contradiction: Banned Books Week 2009

September 26−October 3, 2009 is banned books week in the US. This week you should be celebrating the freedom you have as an American to be able to read any literature that you so choose. It is to teach and celebrate First Amendment rights, the power of literature and free society. I'm sometimes unsure of how to write about this, I'm not officially an American Citizen as of yet, but my son is. So excuse me if I say "you" instead of "we" at some points.

This is something very close to my heart, not just because my husband is one of the many who serve in the army and fight for freedom, but also because I believe in the First Amendment, freedom of intellect - the freedom to access information and express ideas, I am looking toward training to be a librarian and finally of course, the fact that I love to read.

I do not believe that anyone else has the right to restrict books or information that I, or others, would like to access, or to have books removed from schools and libraries because they do not personally agree with them. We are a diverse people, we all have different standards, morals, ideas. That is the beauty of a free society and it is something that must be preserved.

The Color Purple, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Clockwork Orange, Catcher in the Rye,The Great Gatsby,To Kill a Mockingbird and Ulysses, wonderful examples of amazing and teachable literature (and books that I have both read and studied extensively in school at some point, be it highschool level or degree level) that have been challenged, restricted, censored or banned in the US at some point since their publication. I would not like my son to grow up in a world where he is not permitted to read books such as these, and other pieces of classic literature.

Yet I do understand why some people would want certain books restricted from libraries. They worry for their children, books such as Harry Potter or And Tango Makes Three do not line up with their views or what they would like to expose their children to. That is ok, I do not personally agree, but as a mother myself I understand wanting to protect your children from what you do not think is appropriate for their age or for your personal family values. Removing those books from schools and libraries does not solve anything. You should monitor what your own children are reading and censor within your own household as you see fit, but you do not have the right to tell me what my child can and cannot read, regardless of seemingly good intentions.

“While not every book is right for each reader, every reader has the right to choose reading materials for themselves and their families and should be able to find those materials in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores. Our goal is to protect one of our most precious fundamental rights—our freedom to read." Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)