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WEEK of October 29, 2007 |
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Fight for Your Right to … READ! by Angela Ungaro “Hey! You can’t read that!” cried one middle school girl to another as the offending party clutched her beloved copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to her chest. Although many would be shocked to hear such sentiments at a school like BFS, the reality is that books by celebrated authors such as J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl, and Judy Blume have been repeatedly challenged and in some cases even banned in libraries and schools across America. In an effort to celebrate our freedom to read and remind Americans not to take this democratic freedom for granted, the American Library Association (ALA) began Banned Books Week 25 years ago. Now libraries and schools everywhere celebrate this significant week with special displays, reading lists, and thought-provoking campaigns. In order to introduce Banned Books Week to the students at BFS, several middle school faculty got together to write and perform a skit. Although serious concepts such as censorship and First Amendment rights were presented in the skit, it probably helped that teachers executed their lines as overgrown, over-acting middle schoolers. Later during the collection, several teachers shared some of their favorite passages from challenged or banned books that they treasure. Many students where shocked and even mystified as to how Shel Silverstein’s poetry could be banned or why Jean Craighead George’s Julie of the Wolves would be challenged. To keep students thinking about their freedom as readers, they were encouraged to have open conversations with one another and their teachers about challenged books as well as to visit the library to check out a banned book and decide for themselves. Additionally, as they filed out of the meetinghouse that day, MS students proudly wore stickers that they helped to create proclaiming such slogans as “Free Harry Potter!” “Ban the Ban!” and “Free People Read Freely!” More info on Banned Books Week: ALA’s banned books week site
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