Another (Frequently Challenged) Viewpoint

View of Davis Library's Grounds around 1 PM Monday 9.30.13

Last week was Banned Books Week (BBW), an annual and national celebration the freedom to read.  To honor the occasion the Friends of the Davis Library hosted a special “Read-Out & Eat-Out” program to raise awareness about the problem of censorship in maintaining a free and democratic society.  

Students and faculty took turns to read from their favorite frequently challenged books during their lunchtime on Thursday, September 26^th.  Each year the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) at American Library Association (ALA) documents any reports of efforts to restrict access or ban to certain book titles.  The “top ten” books challenged for 2012 were as follows:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison - Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

The English Department and Sigma Tau Delta (English Honors Society) here at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College also actively participate in the Davis Library’s Banned Books Week celebrations each year.  We’d like to thank them once more for their support as well as everyone else who came out to join us for lunch!

If you have any questions about BBW or other Friends of the Davis Library’s activities, just… “Ask Us!”