Banned Books Week 09-30-09

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The above is the text of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, allowing for freedom of the press. Freedom of the press not only includes things that are printed in newspapers, but also books which, as I’m sure you’re all aware, are apt to occasionally contain objectionable material.

This week, September 28th until October 3rd, is National Banned Books Week. In honor of those books that have had their struggles, Meinders has lists available for the public of the top 100 most challenged books from 1900 until the present. You would be surprised what books are on there and, even more surprising, most of them you would consider a classic. In fact, most of them you probably read in high school or your student is reading now. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been challenged, as have Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. The list is extensive enough that I won’t go into more specifics, but we will have many of the books on display at the library.

Censor: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable.

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime…” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

Ban: to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of materials.

As you can see from the definitions, censorship is deletion of parts of certain parts of a book, while banning gets rid of the book entirely. It’s really up in the air which is worse, considering if you use a censorship sort of approach, you still have the book, though the content is changed, sometimes dramatically. Banning would remove the book entirely from the collection, though it wouldn’t delete pieces of the work itself. Interestingly enough, the first definition of the word ‘ban’ in the dictionary is ‘curse,’ which is fitting.

Let me give you an example of how I think. I, personally, cannot stand Howard Stern. I will change the station if I hear him on the radio. But that doesn’t mean he should get booted from the air. Some people (I know several) enjoy listening to him and it is not fair of me to tell them not to, simply because I don’t like the material. The same goes for books. There are some books that I would never read, because they offend me. But far be it from me to prevent others from reading them. I make sure to order at least one book a month that I don’t agree with, just to make sure I’m not censoring the library with my own bias.

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” – Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

We celebrate America because of the freedom it gives us: the freedom to state our opinions and the freedom to write them down and distribute them. That doesn’t mean we all have to agree, that simply means we have the given right to put our words out in public without getting arrested. Stop in and check out a challenged book today!

If you have any questions, or have a book to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 507-825-6714. The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday, from 10 AM to 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.