Hollister
– Though few formal activities will be offered in San Benito
County this year, educators and librarians are encouraging local
residents to pick up a new book or old favorite in honor of the
25th anniversary of Banned Book Week, which ends Saturday.
Hollister – Though few formal activities will be offered in San Benito County this year, educators and librarians are encouraging local residents to pick up a new book or old favorite in honor of the 25th anniversary of Banned Book Week, which ends Saturday.
“It’s an important time for Americans to recognize because it helps bring consciousness to our freedom to read,” said Doug Achterman, Librarian of the San Benito High School Library. “And that’s the foundation of our democracy.”
Banned Books Week was first observed in 1982 and is cosponsored by the American Library Association, American Booksellers for Free Expression Foundation and several other professional literary groups. Libraries across the country plan special readings, exhibits and distribute lists encouraging people to pick up books that have been censored in the past for one reason or another.
“Back in the 60s I was in Europe and I had to bring a D.H. Lawrence book back in my suitcase,” said Paul Stampleman, Anzar High School’s Librarian. “If they had found it in customs, I could have been arrested. Those were the good old days.”
Many of the books that were considered controversial in the past are now the bread and butter of most high school English courses. For example, San Benito High School freshmen all read “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which was once considered inappropriate because of racial slurs and an attempted rape. All SBHS juniors read “The Catcher in the Rye,” which has been shunned for foul language, sexual content and what some have perceived as an “anti-authority” message.
“Almost any book any kid has ever read in high school has been on the banned book list for one reason or another,” Stampleman said.
One of the aims of Banned Book Week is to remind readers that censorship and banned books are not institutions of times gone bye.
The ALA reports that 405 attempts were made to remove books from library shelves in 2005 alone. The most challenged book was a sex education title called “It’s Perfectly Normal,” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion. Catcher in the Rye, which was first published in 1951, is still the third most banned book in the country.
“It depends a lot on what town you live in,” Stampleman said. “There are some place out in say, Iowa where this really isn’t a piddling little issue.”
Achterman said that no attempt had been made to take a book off the SBHS library shelves that he knew of, and San Juan City Library staff also could not remember such an incidence.
Stampleman said that, once, a parent had objected to a Rolling Stone Magazine cover.
“Particularly in today’s climate, protecting free and open expression is extremely important,” said Achterman.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
