Reprinted by permission of the American Library Association.
This week is the 30th annual Banned Books week, a week dedicated to celebrating the freedom to read around the world.
We’ll spend this week highlighting some banned books on the blog, and providing you with more information about why they were banned—where, in what context, what happened.
In the mean time, on the Internet Archive, you can free books—literally. They’ve collected 74 free books that have been banned at different times, and you can now read them for free.
Or, you can take a look at the books that have been banned or challenged this year, in ALA’s 2011-12 magazine or attend a virtual readout.
You might be surprised at what’s been challenged or banned; selections range from popular young adult literature, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, to editions of classic religious texts, like the Bhagavad Gita. If you see something that surprises you, moves you, or perplexes you, let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear about it.
In the mean time, for the rest of the week we’ll highlight a few of these banned books on the blog each day. Look out for the starter set tomorrow.