It’s well-known in book-ish circles that it’s Banned Books Week. This week is a wonderful celebration of the freedom to read and to raise awareness against censorship. But one thing that comes up each year – by myself, included – is that Banned Books Week needs to happen every day of the year. As book people who are passionate about the right to read whatever one chooses, we must remain vigilant in supporting that right.
With that in mind, this week we’ll be featuring booktalks of banned books by well-known librarians, school media specialists, and bloggers. That way, you can support the freedom to read year-round. (Not to mention that, should you be working on your programs, these booktalks can set you on your way!)
So stay tuned and visit here all week for the booktalks. Before I post the first one, I thought I’d share what others are doing around the interwebs to celebrate this week:
- See ALA’s Banned Books Week website for more information.
- “Like” Banned Books Week on Facebook.
- Follow @BannedBooksWeek on Twitter and use the hashtag #bannedbooksweek.
- Not surprisingly, Jen Bigheart at I Read Banned Books is hosting a giveaway and planning all kinds of BBW events. So make sure to stop by there (and check out Jen’s booktalks with us this week!).
- YA Bibliophile is having a banned books giveaway, including Chris Crutcher titles. Head over there to enter!
- Visit On Our Minds for a list of Scholastic titles that have been challenged, like Harry Potter and Hunger Games.
- Bookshelves of Doom has a helpful list of links.