Celebrating the Freedom to Read @ Davis Library!

In honor of Banned Books Week (BBW), an annual and national celebration of the freedom to read, the Friends of the Davis Library hosted a special Read-Out! program yesterday at the Davis Library to raise awareness about the harms of censorship and the importance of maintaining our First Amendment Rights. 

 

Dr. Elizabeth Brown, URG Professor of English reads out!

University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College students, faculty and staff shared excerpts from their favorite frequently challenged books during the afternoon event, which began around 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 24^th on the library’s Main Floor.

Book Display featuring Top 10 Frequenlty Challenged Books of 2013

Challenges are formal complaints or efforts made by individuals or groups to prevent others from accessing certain information materials.  Each year the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) at American Library Association (ALA) documents any reports of efforts to restrict or ban to certain book titles.  The “top ten”books challenged for 2013 that Davis Library also featured in a book display are as follows:

Out of 307 challenges as reported by the OIF…

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
   Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
10. Bone (series), by Jeff Smith
    Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence

The English Department and Sigma Tau Delta (English Honors Society) here on campus also actively participate each year in Davis Library’s BBW celebrations. We’d like to thank them once again for their continued support.  The cool t-shirts that Sigma Tau Delta sold last year for a fundraiser were a big hit at this year’s event.

Library Staff members Deb Thompson and Amy Wilson sporting t-shirts from last year's Sigma Tau Delta's fundraiser

For more Read-Out! photos, visit the Davis Library’s Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/jadavislibrary

Have any questions about BBW or any other Friends of the Davis Library’s activities? Please feel free to…“Ask Us!”