Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week will be observed September 27 through October 4. This year marks BBW’s 27th anniversary.

The American Library Association describes the event as a way to celebrate the freedom to choose and the freedom to express one’s opinion – even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. The annual BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of all viewpoints to those who wish to read them.

The most frequently challenged books of 2007 include:

• And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
• The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
• The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

BBW is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, National Association of College Stores, and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Observed since 1982, this annual American Library Association event reminds Americans not to take this democratic freedom for granted.