Is it Freedom to Read or the Usual Mischief for Banned Books Week?
9/26/2006 4:40:00 PM
By Arlene Sawicki
After much liberal media attention last May, the discussion of obscene and unsuitable reading for Northwest Suburban High School District 214 students is once again taking the spotlight.
All in the spirit of protesting the idea of "banned" or "censored" reading materials for children, and celebrated in time for the American Library Association's "Banned Books Week," September 23 - 30, City Lit Theater, a Chicago company, will present a series of dramatic readings from the nine challenged texts.
City Lit Theater presents readings every fall, in collaboration with the American Library Association, targeting so-called banned, censored or challenged books. Actors will read the parts, assuming the roles of characters, but not carrying out motions.
A spokesperson for the Theater admits that some excerpts were "mischievously chosen" to zero in on the issues that sent up red flags. A teenage District 214 student will be on hand to provide a student's-eye view of the debate.
Dist. 214 School Board Member Leslie Pinney challenged the following books, questioning their educational value, lewd language, graphic sexuality, and depictions of bestiality and homosexuality: "The Awakening," "The Things They Carried," "Fallen Angels," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "Beloved," "Freakonomics," "How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents," and the "Botony of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World." After open and heated discussions, the School Board voted in a 6-1 decision to keep the books in the classrooms and as summer reading projects. However, parents were also made aware of their opt-out responsibilities. (Read more HERE.)
Since l982, numerous groups, including the Library of Congress Center for the Book and the American Library Association, endorse "Banned Books Week," annually held the last week in September.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm
Hidden in the hysteria over the idea of "banning" or "censoring" books, is the debate over what literature should be made available for children to read and what rights parents have, by State and Federal law, in the selection process. The American Library Association, which is a private organization of librarians, vehemently protests any challenge to their "Freedom to Read [for all]" philosophy, and frequently files legal suits through the ACLU to assure that their taxpayer-funded public library policies are strictly enforced.
The obvious "mischief" on the part of the ALA and the Chicago Lit Theater group in the District 214 controversy is to pit parents against the self-acclaimed authority of educators and librarians to know what is best for our children.
Resources:
SafeLibraries.org
http://www.safelibraries.org/statecipalaws.htm
SafeSchoolsCoalition.org
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/RG-books_elementary.html
ACLU: Guardian of Liberty or "Card Carrying" Hypocrites? Concerned Women for America
http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=6270&department=LEGAL&categoryid=misc
 Arlene Sawicki is a co-founder of VoteLifeAmerica.com. Arlene is a long-time pro-life and pro-family advocate, defending and promoting traditional values. She served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women as Chairperson for Family Concerns, Morality in Media and Legislation.
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