Banned Books Week Has Grown!

September 22-28 is Banned Books Week, and oh, how it has grown since 1982!

Over the past few years, hundreds of libraries, bookstores, and community organizations have designed increasingly inventive displays, Read-Outs, and other activities showcasing this annual celebration of the freedom to read. In 2010, volunteers with the Iowa City Public Library marched in the University of Iowa Homecoming Parade dressed as characters from their favorite banned books. In 2011, the Gadsden Public Library director was "arrested" and put on trial for allowing controversial books in the library--with local teens acting as attorneys and jury, and a local judge explaining the importance of the First Amendment. In 2012, the Lawrence, Kan., Public Library invited local artists to create Banned Books Trading Cards, which proved wildly popular; this year both the Lawrence Public Library and the Chapel Hill, NC, Public Library are offering Banned Books trading cards in observance of Banned Books Week.