Banned Book Week is a
By Jessie Hethcoat
Drew Harrington, senior librarian of University of Portland, knows first hand about banning books.
Several years ago, working at a public library, Harrington received a request to censor a children's book. It contained what a concerned parent claimed to be an offensive image. The image-a cowboy "mooning" the crowd-was only minimally inappropriate and expressed in good humor. Still, it did not change the fact that someone found it offensive.
Situations like these occur more often than might be expected. Because of such efforts, the American Library Association hosts Banned Books Week every year. It is being celebrated this week this year.
At UP, Banned Books Week wraps up Friday with a banned books reading in St. Mary's Lounge at 3:30 p.m. Students and faculty are invited to bring their favorite banned book and read excerpts aloud to the group.
Earlier in the week there was a showing of a film based on a banned book and a panel discussion of the ethics and policy of banning books.
"It is important to take a thoughtful, complete look at literature before you decide to try and ban it," Harrington said. "If you flip to a page and find a word you don't like, that's not enough to convince us to get rid of it. You have to consider the work as a whole and whether or not you truly believe that it will do harm to others."
Harrington said books are most often challenged because challengers find something regarding sexuality, racism, religion or language that offends them. There are also many challenges out of fear that a book may inspire other readers to commit crime.
But why should we read these books if they are offending people to the point where they feel the need to try and ban them from others' reach? Faculty advisor of the English Society, Genevieve Brassard, has a lot to say about Banned Books Week.
"The offensive aspect of the book is often very brief, incidental and not central to the plot or characters," Brassard said.
Libraries have essentially led the charge on the freedom to read. Harrington said, "There's something in every single library that will offend someone, but education is about seeing different points of view. You can't be educated without seeing different points of view."
"It's important to demonstrate that we live in a society that prides itself on freedom of speech and expression," Brassard said.
The president of the English Society, senior Avi Saban, said, "Most books are banned because they question authority. By celebrating banned books, you're celebrating freedom and you're celebrating literature. Who's to judge what a person can or cannot read?"
Banned Books Week celebrates freedom of knowledge and the expansion of minds. "As long as these books are being challenged, we are going to challenge the challengers," Brassard said.
