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Banned Books Week

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Celebrate Banned Books Week at the UST Libraries

What does the children’s book series ‘Captain Underpants’ have in common with ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’? They both top the 2012 list of most frequently challenged books according to the American Library Association’s State of America’s Library Report 2013. In order to highlight instances of challenges made to books on local levels, the UST Libraries will join thousands of libraries and bookstores across the nation to celebrate the 31st. anniversary of Banned Books Week Sept. 22nd. – Sept. 28th. Since its inception in 1982, Banned Books Week has promoted the idea that while not every book is intended for every reader, each person has the right to decide what to read, listen to or view. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

Throughout the week the university’s libraries will observe Banned Books Week with displays and events in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, a “Banned Books Coffee House” discussion lounge, library tours, updates on the UST Libraries Facebook page and an informative UST Banned Books Week website that will link to other libraries, articles and videos that focus on issues of intellectual freedom.

Also returning is the popular Banned Books Week trivia contest (posted on the UST Banned Books website). Test your knowledge each day of the week with a new question about a famous or infamous work of literature. Each day’s winner will be selected randomly from among those with the correct answers and will receive a $5 gift certificate to the UST Bookstore or a popular banned book.

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News & Events

Celebrate Banned Books Week at the UST libraries

Banned Books Week 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. The event is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, and the American Library Association. According to the American Library Association, there were 326 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011. The 10 most challenged titles of 2011 were:

1. ttyl, ttfn, i8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collings
4. My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hellestad Butler
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
8. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Throughout the week the St. Thomas’ libraries will observe Banned Books Week with displays in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library and the Charles J. Keffer Library on the Minneapols campus, free bookmarks and an informative Banned Books website that includes a survey to vote for readers’ favorite banned or challenged book and a daily online banned book trivia contest.

News & Events

Celebrate Banned Books Week at the UST Libraries

The UST Libraries will join thousands of libraries and bookstores across the nation to observe Banned Books Week from September 27th – October 1st. Since its inception in 1982, Banned Books Week promotes the idea that while not every book is intended for every reader, each person has the right to decide what to read, listen to, or view. According to Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom “Protecting one of our most fundamental rights – the freedom to read – means respecting each other’s differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they and their families read.”

Throughout the week the UST libraries will observe Banned Books Week with displays in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center and the Charles J. Keffer Library, updates on the UST Libraries Facebook page and an informative UST Banned Books Week website which will link to other libraries, articles and videos that focus on issues of intellectual freedom.

Also returning is the popular Banned Books Week trivia contest posted on the UST Banned Book page. Test your knowledge each day of the week with a new question about a famous or infamous work of literature. Each day’s lucky winner will be selected randomly from amongst the correct answer and will receive a $5 gift certificate to the UST bookstore.