{"id":6274,"date":"2017-09-26T12:17:23","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T17:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/?p=6274"},"modified":"2017-09-26T12:17:23","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T17:17:23","slug":"it-is-banned-book-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/it-is-banned-book-week\/","title":{"rendered":"It is Banned Book Week!"},"content":{"rendered":"

BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2017!<\/h3>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

IT IS BANNED BOOKS WEEK!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Banned Book Week – typically held the last week in September – was launched in 1982 – in order to bring attention to\u00a0a surge\u00a0of challenges that schools, bookstores and libraries were getting. The purpose of this week is to highlight the value of free and open access to information and\u00a0the freedom to read. Banned Books Week brings the entire book community together – librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers.<\/p>\n

You may have heard about both “banned books,” and “challenged books.” \u00a0There is a difference between the two terms. A challenged book is an attempt to remove or restrict materials – either by a group or an individual who objects to the material. It does not mean a person or group simply expresses their point of view, but actively attempts to remove the material from circulation. Since banning a book is the actual removal of the materials, the access of others is restricted.<\/p>\n

According to the American Library Association (ALA<\/a>), books are usually challenged with good intentions – protecting others (usually children) from ideas and information which may be difficult. Over the years many different types of groups, and people, have challenged books. ALA has a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books (between 1990-2000) which is searchable by Initiator, Institution, Type and Year<\/a>. \u00a0ALA believes that for every reported challenge, four or five go unreported. In 2016 there were 323 challenges recorded by the Office of Intellectual Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The good news is that in a majority of cases the books have remained available. This is due in part to the awareness that Banned Books Week brings to this issue!<\/p>\n

New books are added every year – and some never make it off the list (Catcher in the Rye<\/em> and\u00a0To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em> are two examples). Many of the banned books are novels, but a number of science books have also been challenged.<\/p>\n

Many classic books have been banned.\u00a0According to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at least 46 of the\u00a0Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century\u00a0have been the target of ban attempts. \u00a0See which books these are and learn the reasons for being banned at the following link:\u00a0http:\/\/www.ala.org\/bbooks\/frequentlychallengedbooks\/classics\/reasons<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are a few of the many books related\u00a0to\u00a0Engineering and Science that have been banned at one time or another:<\/p>\n