The recent observance of Banned Books Week once again highlighted the value of free and open access to information in our society. Each year, it brings together librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers and readers to share their common support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those considered unpopular.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targeted with removal or restricted in libraries and schools across the country.Thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students and community members, these books have remained available because of the willingness of these people to stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.Next year will be the 25th year of this observance started by First Amendment advocate Judith Krug, who said that most of the books on the list are challenged by parents for violence, language, sexuality or not being age-appropriate.Critics of Banned Books Week argue that most books on the list are challenged but never really banned. As a result, this is not a case of censorship since the books are still available at bookstores and, in many cases, in schools upon permission. They claim that true censorship involves government intervention, and nothing like that has happened.A Christian-based organization, Focus on the Family, claims that the American Library Association has "irresponsibly perpetrated the banned books lie for too long."According to Tom Minnery, the group's vice president of public policy, the ALA "attempts to intimidate and silence any parent, teacher or librarian who expresses concern about the appropriateness of sexually explicit or violent material for schoolchildren."The group's education analyst, Candi Cushman, added that parents have "every right and responsibility to object to their kids receiving sexually explicit and pro-gay literature without their permission, especially in a school setting."Writing in defense of Banned Books Week, Maddie Crum of the Huffington Post says that the observance "keeps us conscious of how the right to free expression is not easily won, as we can see around the world where the war for free expression is still waged."One of the most frequently censored books is Mark Twain's 1884 best-seller "Huckleberry Finn." It was first banned a year after its publication in Concord, Massachusetts, where it was called "trash suitable only for the slums." The book is deemed not acceptable today because of its frequent use of the N-word and for allegedly being oppressive, racially insensitive and for perpetuating racism.Joseph Heller's 1961 masterwork "Catch-22" has been a favorite target of censors.It took center stage in Strongville, Ohio, when the school board objected to its being taught in high school classrooms in 1972. The nationally acclaimed case led to a 1976 District Court ruling which overturned the ban.Arguably the most influential African-American novelist of her lifetime, Pulitzer-Prize winning Toni Morrison stirred up a hornet's nest with her controversial 1987 work "Beloved." Although it is a favorite of English teachers, parents have complained bitterly to school officials because of the book's violence, sexual content and discussions of bestiality.The 1903 Jack London novel "Call of the Wild," considered his best work and a favorite of adolescents, is often challenged because of bloody violence, dark tone and age inappropriateness. The book was one of those burned in bonfires in Nazi Germany in the late-1920s and early '30s for being "too radical."The 1951 J.D. Salinger classic, "The Catcher in the Rye," has been on the censors' list since virtually the first day it saw the light of publication. It has been assailed for being "obscene, blasphemous, negative, foul, filthy and for undermining morality.""The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel that chronicles the booze-saturated and decadent lifestyles of rich and famous East Hampton socialites, was challenged at a Baptist college in South Carolina because of the novel's intemperate language and "gratuitous" references to sex.Area school libraries use a variety of policies when it comes to controversial books. Some sequester certain books which have come under attack; some require parental permission to check out books on a printed list.Most of the restricted books have to do with sex, rape, gay/transgender issues, extreme violence or issues of political correctness.Pauline Romanowski, a Panther Valley Junior High School reading teacher, said she maintains her own library for seventh- and eighth-grade students since the district no longer has librarians."I have had parents try to ban 'Harry Potter,' 'A Monster Calls' and 'The Hunger Games,' " she said. She has found that fundamentally conservative parents often are the most outspoken about content.She recalls how one parent attempted to stop the appearance of author Ellen Hopkins by objecting to the school board. Originally, seventh- and eighth-grade students were to hear her talk, but after the parent complained, Hopkins appeared as scheduled, but the students in those grades were forbidden from attending the talk.All five of the titles listed earlier are available to Panther Valley High School students, according to Romanowski, while "Huckleberry Finn" and its companion piece, "Tom Sawyer," is available to junior high students, she said."Our high school teachers use all sorts of classics, including 'Of Mice and Men' (John Steinbeck) and 'The Great Gatsby' with no complaints about content from parents," Romanowski said.There were some high school boys who complained about "Kite Runner" (written by Khaled Hosseini) because of a rape scene, she said.These boys had gone home to tell their parents that the book was about gay sex, an erroneous conclusion, but, Romanowski said, "once that was cleared up, there was no longer an issue."By Bruce Frassinelli |

tneditor@tnonline.com