Celebrate Banned Books Week, 9/22-9/28!

Teens and adults are invited to Kimball Library for "Banned Books Speed Dating" on Sept. 26, 6:30-7:30. Participants dip into books that have been banned and challenged, to make a match or several. From the Bible to Fifty Shades of Grey, there's something for everyone! 67 North Main St., Randolph. For more information: 728-5073 or info@KimballLibrary.org.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week has been drawing national attention to the harms of censorship for more than thirty years.

Based on media reports and voluntary reporting from libraries, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 347 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2018, encompassing 483 books. Kimball Library owns 9 of the top 11 most challenged books in 2018. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and nearly every book written by Toni Morrison are among the 100 most challenged books of 2000-2009. The book challenges tracked by ALA are only a snapshot. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges – documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries – remain unreported and receive no media.