I Read Banned Books

Monday, September 28, 2009
WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men blog celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, September 26-October 3, 2009, and be it further

RESOLVED, that Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men proprietress Janiece Murphy, will wear her "Banned Books" bracelet to commemorate this historical week; and be it further

RESOLVED, that Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men and its proprietress, Janiece Murphy, encourage free people to read freely, now and forever.

September 28, 2009
Parker, CO

Top 100 most frequently Banned or Challenged Classics
I challenge you to read one - or more - this week!

Lifted pretty much whole cloth from Jeri over at Smug Puppies, my sister-in-reading Banned Books.

7 comments:

Jeri said...

And I have to add - it's lifted from the ALA website, with their encouragement and permission. I only wish I wrote legalese that well!

carolynforsman said...

cool
carolyn forsman here, the creator of the bracelets with the ALA OIF. Both are sold at the ALA store + on my site along with necklace and pins http://carolynforsman.com

WendyB_09 said...

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to find that if they were published before I graduated from high school in 1973, I've read those books. Either as reading for classes or with the encouragement of my parents, we were pretty much allowed to read whatever we wanted. Few more, like Atlas Shrugged, over the next few years. And yes, including almost all that are now showing in the banned/challenged area.

Quite the liberal/radical eduacational system they had in New York State back then.

All in all there are only about a dozen on the whole list of 100 I've not read, they're by more contemporary authors I've not got around to reading yet.

Yes, I read banned books, and have done so for all of my life. I am proud of that fact. I seem to have turned out OK.

I will continue to read banned books. Don't think anyone will stop me either.

Geek Goddess said...

For years I had a t-shirt that said "Read a Banned Book" and had a dozen listed. It's a bit different than the link - no Toni Morrision, for example. Occasionally, people would tell me 'you're kidding, right'.

Sad.

But what makes me sadder is that Mark Twain is not listed in the top 100 books. He's the original American author. Huckleberry Finn has been banned.

Janiece said...

Welcome, Carolyn. I really enjoy my bracelet, which was a gift from the always fabulous Random Michelle.

My own experience with Banned Books began with my parents, who encouraged me to read whatever I wanted. Nothing was off-limits, and usually my Hot Sister and I were wondering what all the shouting was about once we'd completed a book "on the list."

Unknown said...

Loves her school where 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 23, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 45, 57, 67, 70 and 92 were all required reading for one or more English classes

Janiece said...

Welcome, Smart Twin.

Say...you're not one of my smart twins, are you? ;-)