Banned Books Week

28 library services across the UK recently participated in a London Libraries’ reader promotion called Banned Books, which featured 50 books that have been banned or challenged, historically or currently. Banned Books brings public libraries together with organisations that promote freedom of expression to raise awareness of censorship and raise the profile of libraries. The books were selected by Article 19, Index on Censorship, English PEN (the charity to promote literature) and International PEN, the International Publishers Association, and UK librarians.

The 50 banned books are listed under four categories:
Corrosive to young minds – includes Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone by JK Rowling and Forever by Judy Blume;
Politically incendiary – includes The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck and The unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera;
Downright sexy – includes The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien and Ulysses by James Joyce;
Just wrong – includes The dark by John McGahern and The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

The American Library Association hold an annual Banned Books Week (BBW) to celebrate the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. To see the titles on the UK Banned Books list see www.banned-books.org.uk