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SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Not in My Backyard

It’s Banned Book Week! Here in the library we have a collection of banned or frequently challenged books wrapped up in brown paper and patron’s are encouraged to check one out, sight unseen. One patron we were talking with this week was truly surprised that there were books challenged or banned. She couldn’t believe it could happen here… in her own neck of the woods.

This got me thinking and a little research later…

2007 – Manchester, CT challenged The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain, Mark

2006 – Westport, CT middle school challenged Lovey Bones by Alice Sebold

2006 – West Hartford, CT parent demanded The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier be removed from curriculum

2003 – New Haven, CT school district challenged, but ultimately retained Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

2004 – Ansonia, CT One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte removed from shelves

2002 – Cromwell, CT middle schools challenged Witch of Blackbird Pond by
Elizabeth George Speare

1992 - New Milford, CT schools challenged The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

1990 – Burlington, CT The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier challenged

1972 – Ridgefield,CT school board banned Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko

If you'd like to learn more about banned or challenged books, come see us @ the Library!

Add a comment (1 comment)

posted by Su

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Comments

CarolK said, on Oct. 1 at 5:03PM
Here's some interesting informatin about banned books from The American Library Association:
Over the past eight years, here’s WHY 3,736 works were challenged:
1,225 challenges due to “sexually explicit” material
1,008 challenges due to “offensive language”
720 challenges due to material deemed “unsuited to age group”
458 challenges due to “violence”
269 challenges due to “homosexuality”
103 materials were challenged because they were “anti-family”
233 were challenged because of their “religious viewpoints”

Here’s WHERE the challenges occurred…
1,176 of these challenges (approximately 31%) were in classrooms
37% were in school libraries
24% (or 909) took place in public libraries
Fewer than 75 challenges to college classes only 36 to academic libraries.
The majority of challenges were initiated by parents (almost exactly 51%), while patrons and administrators followed behind (10% and 8% respectively).
Exercise your right to read by choosing one the books on our Banned Book Displays.