|
Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same
One of the many things I like about Banned Books Week is that it is about a kind of planned -- and permanent -- style of activism that I think is part of the price of liberty. And in that sense, it is also about how we plan to defend and preserve values most of us hold deeply in common, and the institutions we have created to promote them -- libraries, publishers, and bookstores. Following the announcement on the blog of ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom -- this is an invitation to think about it.
This year's slogan is borrowed from the Facebook group, "Un-Ban Gilbert Grape! Censorship is Wrong!" According to Andy Lange, one of the group's leaders, the slogan is a shortened version of Voltaire's quote, "Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too." Lange, along with other students from Carroll High School in Carroll, Iowa, created the Facebook group to show support for the Peter Hedges book, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which was removed from the school's curriculum in 2006 by the superintendent when a parent complained about sexual content. The group collected signatures calling for a formal review of the book in hopes of returning the book to the curriculum. Their efforts proved successful! The Carroll school board later voted to overturn the superintendent's decision to ban the book from the high school's literature-to-film class. Banned Books Week is also sponsored by, among others, the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression (an arm of the association of independent book stores) which last year produced a handbook for Banned Books Week. Its a good time to be planning ahead.
Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
|
||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
print page
