Last Thursday, Sept. 30, students and faculty came together at the Sims Memorial Library to promote their freedom to read.

Banned Books Week, which took place during the week of Sept. 25 through Oct. 2, is a nationally recognized celebration, promoting awareness of the growing issue of censorship among public schools and libraries across the United States.

Director of the Sims Memorial Library Eric Johnson explained that Banned Books Week has been a Southeastern tradition for almost a decade and has helped inform students of this recurring problem.

“We do a different exhibit each year,” said Johnson. “One year we did fictional posters, and usually, before it’s even complete, people are stopping by and looking and saying, ‘I can’t believe that was banned. I read that book!'”

This year’s library display featured a cutout silhouette of a man holding books over a glowing flame, which had students doing double takes and even taking pictures in the library’s lobby.

Johnson explained that, while it is a recurring incident at public schools and libraries, Southeastern students are very lucky to be part of a university where books are rarely challenged.

“As with most librarians, I am for freedom to read,” said Johnson. “I don’t think someone should have the power to remove something from a library because they find it offensive. Many times it is done out of a desire to protect children, but I think it’s far worse than exposure to what the parent is objected to. Usually, they haven’t even read the book.”  

Twelve readers participated in this year’s activity, reading excerpts from “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Satanic Verses,” “Wicked,” “The Bible,” “Howl,” “Charlotte’s Web” and others. The readers were comprised of Sims librarians and Sigma Tau Delta honor society members. “Harry Potter,” another fictional favorite for people around the world, also made an appearance. According to the American Library Association, this best seller was the most challenged book of the 2000-2009 decade.

While some contained obvious offenses against races or religions or included drugs, sex or violence, others contained assumed offenses that were much less apparent. For example, the popular children’s classic “Charlotte’s Web” was banned for featuring animals that could speak.

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read, according to their Web site www.bannedbooksweek.org. This week was initiated in 1982 after an overwhelming number of challenges were made in public schools, libraries and bookstores. Since its establishment, over a 1,000 books have been banned or challenged, occurring in every state in the U.S.

In 2009 alone, 460 books were reported challenged to the American Library Association, which only represents about 20-25 percent of actual occurrences. Most cases are never reported.

“I wish they would do it more than once in the year,” said Stacie Noto, a senior psychology major. “I think they should have a Banned Books month.”

Johnson encourages everyone who wants to get involved to spread the word that even today books are still being challenged across the country. Students should stress that freedom to read is extremely important to access information—that it should all be available. Students can also get involved by joining their local library association or Southeastern’s Friends of the Library.

“They should open their minds and question everything,” said Johnson. “That’s the most important part.”