Guess what! It's Banned Books Week! And, no, that doesn't mean we should all go out and start torching the written word (Heavens, no!), it means we should read books that people have wanted to ban. I, for one, believe no books should be banned. Ever. If we allowed books to be banned, we would be without classics such as "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Great Gatsby", even "To Kill a Mockingbird". Banning books means stifling education, and these days, we need all the education we can get. Reading brings open minds and launches creativity and imaginations. I can't even begin to imagine a world without books.

Check out this website:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

I love this part: "...the freedom to read." That's what reading is-- freedom. It takes you everywhere on so many different adventures. It is one of the basic principles of our government-- Freedom of Speech. Take that away, and you have, what, anarchy? No thanks. Crack open those books people! Just because certain someones decide they don't like certain words or phrases in novels doesn't mean they have the authority to remove a book from a library. People have the right to choose. If you don't like a book, or the idea of a book, don't read it. I personally like this idea: if it makes you uncomfortable, all the more reason to open it up and peruse and learn a little something! A friend of mine uses this analogy...if you never tried ice cream, how do you know that you like it?! "BBW [Banned Books Week] stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them."

I challenge you to go out and read the books on the ALA's list of "Banned and Challenged Books" (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm). Surprisingly (or not, I haven't quite decided yet), most of these books were on my reading lists for my high school English classes. And a lot of them I really enjoyed, such as previously mentioned "To Kill a Mockingbird" as well as "Of Mice and Men". I learned so much about civilization and life and people and, this may sound a bit sentimental but it's probably true, I would not be the person I am today if I had not read these classics.

There is absolutely no reason to ban a book. I will concede that some books need to be read at a more mature age (I don't recommend "1984" for a child...), but they should never be forbidden. Books are so important in education and life skills that they should be available to everyone. Besides, if they are ever banned, we are resourceful beings...we will find ways of reading them! Isn't it human nature to want something that you can't have? ;)