The American Library Association launched Banned Books Week in 1982 to combat challenges to books in schools, libraries and bookstores and celebrate the right to read. Thirty years later, the good news is that here in Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union reports that the lowest number of books ever has been banned or re-shelved over the last year – a mere unlucky 13 – according to the Houston Chronicle’s book blog.
The issues some parents have with certain books include sexual content, profanity, nudity, violence, religion, race and politics, and some of the greatest books in literature have been attacked across the nation. ACLU Texas executive director Terri Burke notes that getting parents to actually read the books they oppose has helped reduce the number.
“[I]n an ideal world parents would monitor kids’ reading and it wouldn’t have to come to banning,” says Burke.
There is no truth to the rumor that the Dean Koontz thriller that is on this year’s list was banned for flagrant hackery.