Late to the Library

I should've had this up earlier in the week, but at least it's here at all. We're winding down Banned Book Week, which started on Sunday and officially ends on Saturday. According to the American Library Association, the ten most challenged books of 2007 are:

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
TTYL by Lauren Myracle
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The most challenged authors last year are:

Robert Cormier
Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Mark Twain
Toni Morrison
Philip Pullman
Kevin Henkes
Lois Lowry
Chris Crutcher
Lauren Myracle
Joann Sfar

Look for any events you can participate in before the week is gone entirely; most of the items on this geographical list are library displays bringing attention to banned books, so there's still plenty of time to get more informed.

The most notable instance of potential censorship, of course, has been Sarah Palin's inquiries into taking books off the shelves at the Wasilla public library (although she didn't want all of these books banned), but fortunately that didn't result in any actual censorship. But there's always somebody who doesn't want somebody else to read something, so we should all remain vigilant. The Banned Books Week site has a list of resources with suggestions of what can be done this week and throughout the year.

Although they're not tied in to Banned Books Week, as far as I know, this also provides a good excuse to remember the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as a worthy cause. The Fund has been fighting for the First Amendment rights for comics professionals for more than twenty years, stepping in to defend those who need it. Unfortunately, it seems that it's a never-ending battle, and it's not one that comes cheap. Slip them a few bucks, if you can.