John Steinbeck. Maya Angelou. J.K. Rowling.\nAll three authors are on the list of the most frequently banned and challenged authors of the last 15 years, according to the American Library Association.\nSteinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," and J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" are all classic titles that have been met with some of the strongest resistance. From 1990 to 2000, all were among the top 15 challenged works, according to the ALA. \nThe number of challenged books increased by 20 percent from 2003 to 2004, according to the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. \nBanned Books Week, which has been observed nationally every year since 1982, focuses on texts that have received considerable complaints in communities to be taken off public shelves.\nA challenged book, according to the ALA, is not a banned book, but an attempt by a citizen or group to ban the work.\nBeverley Becker, deputy director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, said Banned Books Week started not because of a specific incident. It stemmed from a feeling among librarians that books had become an increasingly targeted medium. \n"We encourage everyone to pay attention to challenges and other threats to intellectual freedom in their local communities," Becker said.\nThe 2005 Banned Books Week, sponsored by the ALA and other literary freedom and publishing organizations, will focus on opposition to books containing gay and lesbian references. Three of the 10 most challenged books on the ALA's list for 2004 deal with homosexuality: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky; "King & King," by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland; and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou. These books have spurred the ALA to focus on opposition to gay and lesbian themes for the 2005 Banned Books Week, which runs through Saturday.\nGay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Student Support Services Director Doug Bauder said this year's theme reflects the status of gay rights in society.\n"(Issues of sexuality) have become more of a prominent issue and standpoint," Bauder said. "It's important for the issue to be out there, because gay issues are becoming bigger issues, and hopefully more accepted."\nBauder said he is aware of students who sought out materials at the GLBTSSS offices because they could not find them elsewhere in the community. One man, Bauder remembers, would come to their building to read a book about spirituality and sexuality, one chapter at a time. He would not leave with the text because he feared repercussions. The man, whom Bauder did not name, eventually became an outspoken activist for gay rights, and Bauder attributes his courage to the book he found at the GLBT offices. \n"That book was his anchor in the storm," Bauder said.\nPushing for widespread acceptance is an important mission for the week, according to the ALA.\n"The voices and stories of gays and lesbians cannot be silenced in our culture or on our bookshelves," ALA President Michael Gorman said in a press release. "Banning books is an extreme disservice to our readers. Not only does it hinder tolerance and acceptance, it also limits the information exchange Americans hold dear."
Bloomington: A ban-free zone\nThe IU Archives have no records of banned books at IU, and a number of librarians have no recollection of book censorship being a problem on campus.\n"I have been with the IU \nlibraries for more than 30 years and I do not ever remember any book being seriously challenged," IU Public Services Librarian Mary Popp said. "We have certainly not banned anything here in those years. And when Herman Wells was president of the University, he was very much against censorship of any sort."\nHigher education institutions have been mostly excluded from the controversy, which normally occurs in lower schools and public venues.\n"Concern about books and their contents is much more prevalent in school and public libraries because of their close interaction with children," Popp said.\nBauder said the lack of reaction on the part of the Bloomington community shows their forward-thinking nature.\n"It is a dying issue, from, I hope, a shrinking group of bigots that are dwindling, but still loud," Bauder said.\nIU will not have a Banned Books Week exhibit this year because of a lack of exhibition space. But the Monroe County Public Library, located at 303 E. Kirkwood Ave., plans to have an exhibit up this week.\nMonroe County Librarian Shawna Henline is in charge of constructing the Monroe County Public Library Banned Books Week display. She plans to wrap books on the ALA's banned books list in brown paper and twine with a barcode on the back. The idea is for the public to pick up these books and check them out.\n"I try to get things out that people might not read for themselves," Henline said. \nWhile the display will not be out until the end of Banned Books Week, the library plans to keep beyond the end of this week. Henline said she hopes it will raise awareness of banned books.\n"We're supposed to be something for everyone," Henline said of the library.\nHenline said banned books are not a problem at the Monroe County Public Library, although there are procedures in place for the public to challenge a book.\nThrough the Monroe County Public Library Web site, members of the public can fill out a "Request for Reconsideration" form. It asks the petitioner to list information about the book and answer six questions, including whether they have read or watched the entire piece.
A Case of Censorship\nIn 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Island Trees v. Pico that books could not be banned in public or school libraries simply because they contained controversial content. The controversy started in 1975 when the Island Trees School Board attended a conference held by the conservative Parents of New York United. At the conference, PONYU listed several books commonly stocked in public libraries it deemed objectionable.\nFollowing the conference, the school board issued a directive that certain books be removed from school libraries. In the Supreme Court decision, the school board was quoted as saying these books were "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy."\nSteven Pico, a high school student at the time, along with four other students, sued the school board in U.S. District Court. \n"In school, year after year, I had been told how books were banned in communist countries and burned in Nazi Germany," Pico said in a speech to the Missouri Association of School Librarians, according to Herbert N. Foerstel's book "Banned in the U.S.A."\n"I could not believe that it was happening in the United States in the 1970s."\nThe District Court ruled in favor of the school board. Upon Pico's appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the decision and sent it back again for trial.\nRather than face trial again, the board appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. In 1982, the High Court ruled in favor of Pico and the other students. In a 5-4 decision, the court said that the board could not intentionally "deny … access to ideas with which petitioners disagreed."\nIn his speech to the school librarians, Pico said he was sad none of his teachers offered him support. "Only one of my teachers ever commented to me about the book banning," he said. "One day after class, she whispered to me, 'Steve, you're doing the right thing.' I will never be able to forget that she felt the need to whisper"
