It's Banned Book Week! For most librarians, this is the equivalent of the first day of spring, or Fourth of July fireworks. You know the image we all have of shushing librarians in tweed skirts telling us what to do? Here's their secret: within those cardigan-wearing chests beat some very rebellious hearts. I haven't met a librarian yet who really believes censorship is a good idea. If you seriously ask a librarian point-blank for a piece of information, no matter how "dangerous" society deems it to be, I bet nine times out of ten she (or he) will drop everything to get it for you. And that goes double for something "dangerous" to read - watch those sensible shoes make tracks into the stacks to retrieve Huck Finn or Invisible Man at top speed.
Here in the Savidge Bowers Library, I'm proud to say that of the top 100 most frequently banned and challenged books of the last century, we own 83. And I'm working on getting the remaining 17. As I said, that doesn't make me unusual - it makes me part of a whole universe of librarians who care about helping people preserve their intellectual freedom. Today I had one of those singular moments that really makes a librarian feel like this is her calling, not just her job: Mrs. Dozier brought in a class of eighth-graders to look through the banned book display for some free-reading selections. Several inquisitive students asked who has the right to tell anyone else what they're allowed to read. "Nobody!" said Ryan F. That's exactly right - nobody. It's a short hop from banning books to banning speech to banning thought.
So, celebrate your personal freedom and pick a banned book for yourself this week. I can make recommendations based on taste, but only you get to decide which one you take home.
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