Berkley Library Honors Banned Books Week Sept. 25-Oct. 1

Berkley Library Honors Banned Books Week Sept. 25-Oct. 1
(Kathryn Bergeron, MSI, Librarian Berkley Library, Sept. 25, 2016)
Berkley, MI – Gone with the Wind, The Hunger Games, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Captain Underpants: what do all these books have in common? They’ve all been banned or challenged.
From September 25 to October 1 the Berkley Public Library will be celebrating the right to read during Banned Books Week.
Banned Books Week is a national celebration of the right to read. The sponsors of the event include the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Council of Teachers of English.
Banned books include any book that has been challenged or removed from a school curriculum, library, or bookstore. These books vary from classic literature to the latest bestsellers. Each year the ALA puts together a list of the most challenged books in America. The 2015 list included books ranging from The Holy Bible to Fun Home, the basis for the Tony Award winning musical.
Censorship in the United States did not end with McCarthyism. The ALA list the number of books challenged for sexual explicit material between 2000 and 2009 to be over 1500 books. This list includes the titles Twilight, the Captain Underpants series, and My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy.
The Berkley Public Library will be celebrating our right to read during Banned Books Week. From September 25 to October 1 there will be programming across the library during open hours.
~Stop by the Young Adult room to take a picture with your favorite banned book character, illustrated in their banned book mug shot. Post it online, tagging the Library @berkleylibrary and by using #bbatberkley.
~Feeling dangerous yourself? Try taking your own mugshot with your favorite banned book. Post it online tagging the Library @berkleylibrary and by using #bbatberkley.
~Test your knowledge of banned books by guessing the title of a book knowing only a quote from the reason that it was challenged. Ten books, ten titles, and ten thought-provoking and sometimes amusing reasons for why the title was challenged.
The Berkley Public Library is open from:
~10am to 8pm Monday through Thursday
~10am to 6pm on Fridays
~10am to 3pm on Saturdays.
The library’s website is www.berkley.lib.mi.us/ and it can be reached by phone at 248-658-3440.  The address is 3155 Coolidge Hwy, Berkley, MI 48072.
Check out an article about Banned Books Week from 2013 in Ferndale: https://oaklandcounty115.com/2013/09/29/ferndale-public-library-honors-banned-books-week/.

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