Celebrate your Freedom to Read! Banned Book Week was established in 1982 over 30 years ago to celebrate the freedom to read and bring attention to the problem of censorship-

Since 1982, more than 11,000 books have been challenged. Here is a timeline prepared with a Web 2.0 tool tiki toki with history of banned titles since 1982.

Visit your Taft library this week and learn more about protecting your First Amendment rights. Last year in 2011, the Office for Intellectual Freedom reported that there were 326 challenges made to the written word. How many have you read? Click on the poll and participate!

A "challenge" is an attempt to remove or restrict materials---to protect others from difficult ideas or information. Censorship can be subtle. Parents and only parents---have the right and responsibility to restrict access for their children---and only their children.

Visit the American Library Association Banned Book Week website for more information on events planned this week. Many advocacy tools can be found at the following link including Virtual Read Outs!

Stay informed. For more information visit some of these other websites for information.
The ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom
The First Amendment Center
The Freedom to Read Foundation
The American Civil Liberties Union
The National Coalition Against Censorship

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