Book+Censorship+(Bailey)

"Last Years most frequently banned books." Web.20 Apr 2009. [] "Censored." Web.20 Apr 2009. [] Kennedy, Elizabeth. "Banning and Censorship of Children's Books." Web.20 Apr 2009. [] Kennedy, Elizabeth. "They're burning books again!." Web.22 Apr 2009. []
 * Books are censored because of many reason, the following are a few of the reason why 2008's top ten books are banned.
 * anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
 * political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, violence
 * offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
 * occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, violence
 * occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence
 * drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
 * offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
 * homosexuality, unsuited to age group
 * offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
 * sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
 * As long as humans have sought to communicate, others have sought to prevent them.
 * Every day someone tries to restrict or control what can be said, written, sung, or broadcast.
 * Almost every idea ever thought has proved objectionable to one person or another, and almost everyone has sometimes felt the world would be a better place if only "so and so" would go away.
 * Perhaps because of their ubiquity, books, especially public and school library books, are among the most visible targets.
 * Books are hardly the only target of would-be censors, however.
 * Free expression is constantly challenged in the arts, in broadcast media, and on the Internet.
 * Many people think that book banning is something that happened in the distant past.
 * That is certainly not the case. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, for example, came under strong attack in the 1990s and into the 2000s.
 * "The Harry Potter series ranks as the number one most challenged book series of the 21st Century (2000-2006)."
 * "more than a book a day faces removal from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries.
 * There were 546 known attempts to remove books in 2006, and more than 9, 200 attempts since the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom began to electronically compile and publish information on book challenges in 1990.
 * Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.
 * Why Do People Want to Ban Books? When people challenge books it is generally out of a concern that the contents of the book will be harmful to the reader.
 * Family Values;Religion; Political Views; Minority Rights
 * The age level for which a book is intended does not guarantee that someone won't try to censor it.
 * Though the emphasis seems to be on challenges to children's and Young Adult books, attempts are also mounted to restrict access to certain adult books.
 * Most complaints are made by parents and are directed to public libraries and schools.
 * The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
 * Before the introduction of the printing press, burning books was an effective form of censorship.
 * Since each book was handmade, there were few books, and it was possible to limit the spread of ideas and information by burning books.
 * In recent times, it has had other purposes.
 * Foreign governments have used book burning and other destruction to intimidate and illustrate their power.
 * In the United States, most of the book burnings have been motivated by religious views.

"Banned Books and Censorship." Web.22 Apr 2009. []
 * Every year, books in the U.S. and around the world are challenged.
 * Some of the challenged books are banned, some aren't.
 * The punishment for ignoring these bans range from almost nonexistent to severe.
 * There is more than one side to any story.
 * This is more true with censorship of the written word than with most topics.
 * You know where you stand on this issue, but what is your opinion based on?
 * Is it based on fact and your morals, or on other people's morals?

The Reasons Behind Book Challenges The First Amendment and the American Library Association Bill of Rights "Book Challenges and Censorship in School Libraries." Web.22 Apr 2009. []
 * Violence, profanity, sexuality, promotion of witchcraft, and racial insensitivity are just a few of the many reasons that books are challenged in school libraries every year.
 * Book challenges are usually opposed by those who believe that removing books from schools is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
 * The issue of censorship in schools is emotionally charged.
 * Some feel that the protection of children is worth the precedent of removing books from libraries while others assert that freedom of expression is paramount.
 * At some point in their careers, most school librarians will face a challenge to their library materials.
 * Having knowledge of the reasons behind book challenges, the implications and role of the First Amendment and the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, the difference between censorship and selection, and the absolute necessity of having a written selection and review policy will help the librarian know how to appropriately respond when a challenge comes.
 * In Indiana, the parents of a high school student asked that Khaled Hosseini’s novel, //The Kite Runner//, be removed from the curriculum because of violence and scenes of child rape.
 * //Girl, Interrupted// by Susanna Kaysen was pulled from a Maine classroom because of parental concerns about sexual scenes and suicide themes.
 * Graphic sex and homosexual content were cited as reasons for two recent book challenges in Minnesota.
 * Both //A Northern Light// and //To Kiss a Boy// were sent to a review committee to determine what action, if any, should be taken with regards to these two stories.
 * School districts in Alabama, South Carolina, and Michigan dealt with groups wanting //Whale Talk// by Chris Crutcher removed from media centers on account of profanity.
 * An Arkansas parent attempted to have the book //Push// by Sapphire banned from schools because of, according to the review committee, “horrible experiences involving incest and emotional and physical abuse, and … crude descriptions of sexual acts and bodily functions.”
 * These are several recent examples of books being challenged in American school districts.
 * The American Library Association defines a book challenge as “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.
 * A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library…”
 * Books such as //To Kill a Mockingbird// and //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// have been challenged along with the popular //Harry Potter// series.
 * Over the years, concerned parents and teachers have come to media centers and school boards because of what their children were reading.
 * Reasons ranging from “fear, genuine concern for children’s safety, and the need for control over what some view as an immoral world” have all been factors in parents and teachers attempting to limit accessibility to different books.
 * Some librarians and teachers feel that with the wide availability of non-controversial material, purchasing books with content some may find questionable does not serve students, especially younger students, appropriately.
 * One teacher even went so far as to say that many teachers purposely choose materials with this kind of “questionable content” just to be controversial – not because they think students are ready for these topics or because of the literary or historical merit of the book.
 * Other teachers refrain from providing books that they feel are too mature for the grade level in question.
 * Censorship, “the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons—individuals, groups or government officials—find objectionable or dangerous”
 * When books with controversial subjects, sexuality, racial insensitivity, or vulgar language are introduced to the library or into the classroom, some worry that this information will be a negative influence on young people and undermine the morals and values that should be taught in the schools and that many parents try to teach in their homes.
 * Because of these concerns, some are led to question the use and availability of these materials in the schools.
 * Those who bring these concerns to the attention of the library or school administration are usually labeled as censors.
 * “Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove from public access information they judge inappropriate or dangerous,”
 * Parents have the right and responsibility to monitor what their children read.
 * Parents who go to a media center with a concern or complaint about a book are acting within their parental rights.
 * Their free speech, including expressing a negative opinion about a book, is protected by the First Amendment.
 * The difficulty comes when those parents want the book to be inaccessible by children other than their own.
 * A parent may restrict what his or her children read by not permitting them to check out materials from the library, but may not act as parent to other children by forcing the removal of a book from library circulation.
 * When books are challenged or banned from school libraries, many anti-censorship advocates defend their open access views by citing the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States
 * “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
 * or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
 * Intellectual freedom, “the right to seek and receive information,” is protected by this Amendment.
 * When individuals try to prevent information from being accessed, which is the case when books are removed from libraries, the intellectual freedom of others is infringed upon.
 * Having and expressing the opinion that a book is inappropriate for a particular age group, that it promotes negative values, or that it is degrading to a particular culture is not censorship.
 * Trying to pressure school administration or a librarian to remove the book because of that opinion is.
 * Some materials are legally censored.
 * According to judgments made by the Supreme Court, the First Amendment does not protect freedom of expression when the information is classified for national security reasons, is obscene, or is child pornography.
 * Books or other media that fall into these categories may be restricted from school libraries.
 * One problem with many book challenges is that the challengers say that books are obscene, but people have different opinions about what that means.
 * To be considered legally obscene and therefore censorable, material must be ruled by a judge or jury to satisfy three conditions:
 * “Material appeals to the prurient (or morbid, shameful, and unhealthy) interest in sex … depicts or describes certain sexual acts defined in state law in a patently offensive way, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
 * The American Library Association and other anti-censorship groups assert that only books that are legally censored may be removed from a library collection or not considered for purchase.
 * The Library Bill of Rights is a document created by the American Library Association to codify its perception of the responsibilities of libraries and librarians to safeguard intellectual freedom and prevent censorship.
 * It is based on the First Amendment and its protection of freedom of expression.
 * Though most libraries hold to this document and use it in policy development, it is not a legal contract or enforceable by any institution.