Writing in The Washington Post, Ron Charles asks if we still need Banned Books Week? He concludes:
Far from it being dated, James LaRue (from the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association) believes that Banned Books Week may be more relevant now than it's been in a long time. "It's not just about these quaint old books," he says. "It's about speakers. It's about displays and exhibits. It's about libraries as a center for civic debate." ...
"The censoriousness of our time is growing," LaRue warns. "It's not just that we say we want to remove books; we don't want people to voice in public opinions that someone else in the community might dislike."
Which is why, despite the imprecision of the terms "banned" and "challenged," I suppose I'm glad we have Banned Books Week. As LaRue argues, it encourages us to reflect on what we're not discussing.
Far from it being dated, James LaRue (from the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association) believes that Banned Books Week may be more relevant now than it's been in a long time. "It's not just about these quaint old books," he says. "It's about speakers. It's about displays and exhibits. It's about libraries as a center for civic debate." ...
"The censoriousness of our time is growing," LaRue warns. "It's not just that we say we want to remove books; we don't want people to voice in public opinions that someone else in the community might dislike."
Which is why, despite the imprecision of the terms "banned" and "challenged," I suppose I'm glad we have Banned Books Week. As LaRue argues, it encourages us to reflect on what we're not discussing.
