The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird.
These well-known literary classics keep company on library shelves and must-read lists, but they also rub elbows on another list: the banned and/or challenged books list published by the American Library Association.
Since 1982, libraries throughout the U.S. have celebrated Banned Books Week during the last week of September.
“It’s for us to celebrate the freedom to read and it just reminds us that we’re not under a censorship democracy,” said Andrea Goodrich, president of the University of Arizona’s Progressive Librarians Guild.
Books are banned or challenged for having racial or sexual themes, Goodrich said. Sometimes books are challenged for simply containing a word or passage that a person or group of people don’t agree with, she said.
“It’s the little things that get people riled up,” Goodrich said.
This year PLG, along with University of Arizona Libraries and REFORMA-Tucson, have plans to commemorate the week by organizing exhibits at the University of Arizona Main Library and the UA Science and Engineering Library, as well as a free screening of “To Kill a Mockingbird” at the Gallagher Theatre.
UA Main Library,1510 E. University Blvd.
Sept. 17–Mid-October: Banned and Challenged Books Exhibit, with an emphasis on textbooks challenged by the TUSD Ethnic Studies ban and the 50th Anniversary of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Sept. 30–6 p.m.: ReadOut/SpeakOut, a panel discussion feature speakers addressing censorship, followed by a public read-out of passages from challenged books.
UA Science and Engineering Library, 744 N Highland Ave.
Sept. 17-Mid-October: Texts banned through the ages authored by the likes of Galileo and Copernicus.
UA Gallagher Theatre, 1303 E. University Blvd.
Screening of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Sept. 28-6:30 p.m., free.
