Banned Books Week

This is Banned Books Week.  In light of the recent events surrounding author Ellen Hopkins, whose Manifesto   poem was written for this year's BBW, librarians have been made very aware of the importance of intellectual freedom in libraries and schools.

From the American Library Association website:
Banned Books Week (BBW): Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. BBW 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. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where the freedom to express oneself and the freedom to choose what opinions and viewpoints to consume are both met.