Banned Books Reading

by Rachel Frankford

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Published: Sep 21, 2006

Despite the Bush administration's courageous stance against censorship and invasion of privacy, times are tough for America's libraries. (I just laughed really hard. And threw up a little.) The American Library Association estimates that the hundreds of reports it receives of "challenged" books (i.e., someone tried to get them taken off the shelves) make up only a quarter of the actual total. On Monday, the Free Library will hold its fourth annual celebration of the ALA's Banned Book Week, a tradition now into its second decade. WXPN's Gene Shay will MC and play some music that's been banned, and five local worthies — including novelist Diane McKinney-Whetstone and Power 99's Tiffany Bacon — will choose selections from a list that includes Harry Potter, Beloved and Heather Has Two Mommies. (The most frequently banned book in the past 20 years, according to the ALA? Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series). Get there early; Lee Fishman, assistant chief of the central library, said last year's reading was standing room only. "I think it's ringing a bell with people, and they're coming out to support their intellectual freedoms," she says.

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