Banned Books Week - United States Event

United States Event

Held during the last week of September since 1982, Banned Books Week not only encourages readers to examine challenged literary works, but also promotes intellectual freedom in libraries, schools, and bookstores. Its goal is "to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society." Offering Banned Books Week kits, the ALA sells posters, buttons, and bookmarks to celebrate the event.

Many educational facilities also celebrate banned and challenged books during this week, often creating displays and programs around the awareness campaign. Additionally, various booksellers sponsor activities and events in support of Banned Books Week. Some retailers create window displays, while others go further, inviting authors of banned and challenged materials to come speak at their stores, as well as funding annual essay contests about freedom of expression.

Read more about this topic:  Banned Books Week

Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states and/or event:

    “Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kow-tow before any United States pro-consul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.”
    —Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1909–1989)

    “You are, I am sure, aware that genuine popular support in the United States is required to carry out any Government policy, foreign or domestic. The American people make up their own minds and no governmental action can change it.”
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    “My opinion is that the Northern states will manage somehow to muddle through.”
    —John Bright (1811–1889)

    “The event combined with
    Beams leading up to it for the look of force adapted to the wiser
    Usages of age, but it’s both there
    And not there, like washing or sawdust in the sunlight,
    At the back of the mind, where we live now.”
    —John Ashbery (b. 1927)