Whats the purpose of Banned Books Week?
To bring attention to the fact, to our students, that there is an interest among some groups in banning books. I don’t think they realize there have been movements in the state to ban books and specifically literary works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or Of Mice and Men, and The Catcher in the Rye. And also to promote open debate among students about whether books should be banned. How often does this happen? There’s a Web site bannedbooks.org you can go to and look at efforts, even within South Carolina, where there has been an attempt to ban books between 2007 and 2009. No area of the country is exempt. Why do some people seek to ban books? There is a general level of discomfort with violence. There can be racial reasons to ban books. Certain Christians who want to ban Harry Potter feel very strongly that witchcraft should not be the subject of a book they want their children to read. Sometimes people who want to ban books may not have read the book. So there’s a desire
