Banned Books Week Presentation for the ALA Student Chapter (ALASC) at SJSU. Presented 9/28/11 via Second Life.

1. Banned Books Week 2011 "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." —Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, in Texas v. Johnson

2. Introductions Elaine Hall – Program Coordinator, ALASC Rosemary Kiladitis – Secretary, ALASC

3. What is Banned Books Week? celebrates the first amendment right to free speech, which includes the right to read and write books that are considered unorthodox or controversial. Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982.

4. History of Banned Books 450 B.C. - Anaxagoras writing on the sun. 1873 – Anthony Comstock founded New York Society for the Suppression of Vice 1982 - Supreme Court ruling in Board of Education, Island Trees v. Pico 1990 and 2000 - 6,364 challenges to books, according to data from the Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA recently reported that there were 546 challenges in 2006, 420 challenges in 2007, 513 challenges in 2008, 460 challenges in 2009, and 348 challenges in 2010

5. What Is a Banned Book? According to ALA “ A banned book is one that has actually been removed from a library or school system, a "challenged" book is the attempt to ban such material.

6. Top 10 Challenged Books in 2010 And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Crank by Ellen Hopkins The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Lush by Natasha Friend What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer

7. 3 Primary Reasons a Book May Be Banned sexual explicitness offensive language "unsuited to age group."

8. Other Reasons occult themes, violence, promotion of homosexuality, promotion of a religious viewpoint, nudity, racism, presentation of sex education, and books considered "anti-family."

9. Most Famous Challenges J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Me Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Recent works include: Harry Potter and Twilight series

10. Striking the Balance Between Ideas and Ideals Concern for freedom of literacy will continue As long as ideas and ideals continue to conflict, there will always be individuals willing to challenge the ideas (aka freedom of speech) to protect their own ideals, whether cultural, spiritual, or traditional. The challenge to our school systems and libraries is to respect intellectual freedoms while preserving access to “challenged” books and content for those who want it. This leads us to the importance of advocacy for literacy in our libraries.