Banned Books Week Sept. 27-Oct. 4

Is your favorite book safe? Classics as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Of Mice and Men" continue to run the risk of being banned from libraries and classrooms. In an effort to inform Americans about this possibility, thousands of libraries and bookstores will fight censorship by celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, Sept. 27- Oct. 4, 2008.

First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take the freedom to read for granted, and promotes intellectual freedom by creating awareness of book censorship. Books have long been censored for the ideas and words they contain. Each year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove books from America's schools and libraries. Often, book challenges are based on a variety of grounds including language, race and ethnicity, violence, sex, sexuality and religion. Fighting book censorship protects everyone's right to choose books for themselves.

Celebrate your right to read - read a banned book!

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Association of College Stores and is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

To learn more and get involved, please go to www.ala.org/bbooks