The goal of Banned Books Week is to call attention to First Amendment rights. (Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record)
BRUNSWICK — The Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick created a special activity for teens to celebrate Banned Books Week, which serves as an annual reminder of First Amendment rights.
Every day this week from 4:30-5 p.m., teens have 30 minutes to solve clues in the Curtis Memorial Library’s TeenZone in order to unlock a box containing three banned books. Melissa Orth, the teen librarian at Curtis, created the activity as a way to remind readers of their right to read whatever they wish regardless of if people have attempted to ban the book.
Banned Books Week started in 1982 after the Supreme Court ruled that students’ First Amendment rights were violated when Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” and eight other books were removed from school libraries. The event takes place the last week of September.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. Each year the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom organizes a list of the year’s most-challenged books. They range from the “Harry Potter” series and “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Last year, at least 347 challenges were filed seeking to remove 483 books from libraries or schools, according to the American Library Association.
“People are entitled to raise questions about a book, but their personal moralities and beliefs should not dictate what everyone in the community gets to read,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, interim director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Young people have First Amendment rights too, and a government-run entity like a public school cannot violate those rights.”
Orth said many of the contested books are children’s picture books. One example is “The Rabbits’ Wedding” by Garth Williams, which was published in 1958. The White Citizens Council of Montgomery, Alabama attempted to get the picture book banned by claiming it promoted interracial marriage because it depicted a rabbit with white fur and a rabbit with black fur getting married.
Similarly, conservative parent groups attempted to ban the 2015 children’s picture book “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson, which tells the true story of two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo who raised a baby penguin together.
Orth said anyone has the right to complete a request to ban an item from the library, and the said the library will, “listen to complaints seriously,” but does not guarantee a result.
“It’s a public library and we’re defending the right to read and the right to access,” said Orth.
Caldwell-Stone said banning books does the most harm in rural areas. Usually, parent groups attempt to ban a book featuring topics that are considered controversial by some, but the removal of those books, “might mean that book is withheld from an entire community.” As a result, teens don’t have access to explore topics they may be able to relate to, satisfy their curiosity, and prepare them for life.
Many other libraries in the midcoast area, including the Patten Free Library in Bath and the Freeport Public Library, arranged a banned books display to highlight a range of books that have been challenged in the past. While the displays are temporary, the books featured in the displays are always available in the libraries.
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