Paterson Library Commons Presents: Freedom to Read Week

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Paterson Library Commons PresentsFreedom to
Read Week
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Why and Who?

• Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that
  encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm
  their commitment to intellectual freedom, which
  is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights
  and Freedoms.
• Freedom to Read Week is organized by the Freedom
  of Expression Committee of the Book and
  Periodical Council.

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Censorship

• What does it mean?
• censorship
• the changing or the suppression or prohibition
  of speech or writing that is condemned as
  subversive of the common good. It occurs in all
  manifestations of authority to some degree, but
  in modern times it has been of special importance
  in its relation to government and the rule of
  law. Encyclopaedia Britannica
  http//www.britannica.com/eb/article-9108315/censo
  rship

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Did You Know? Selective Timeline of Bannings and
Burnings

• 259-210 B.C.E.
• Talk about an ego trip! In order to control how
• history was written, Chinese emperor Shih Huang
  Ti
• is said to have 460 Confucian scholars buried
  alive.
• Before burning all the books in his kingdom in
  212
• B.C., he kept only a single copy of each for the
• Royal Library. These were destroyed before his
• death. Having achieved this, he thought history
• could be said to begin with him.

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"People will always want to ban books. And we
should always question that."  -- Aaron
Greenwald
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Bannings and Burnings

• 1597
• Angry at a scene in Shakespeares Richard II
• which depicted the king being forced to give
• up his throne, Queen Elizabeth I ordered that
• the scene be deleted from all copies of the
• play.

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Bannings and Burnings

• 1616 - 1642
• Galileos theory on how the earth revolved around
  
• the sun was condemned by the Catholic Church.
• Threats of torture and the sentencing to jail
  forced
• the Renaissance scientist to renounce his
• discoveries. He went into house arrest and some
• of his manuscripts were destroyed upon his
• death. In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized on
• behalf of the Catholic Church.

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"The sooner we all learn to make a decision
between disapproval and censorship, the better
off society will be... Censorship cannot get at
the real evil, and it is an evil in itself."--
Granville Hicks (1901-1982)
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More Bannings and Burnings

• 1859
• Origin of Species written by Charles
• Darwin, outlining the theory of evolution, has
• been a controversial book since its printing.
• Banned from Trinity College Library from
• 1925 to 1967, Tennessee banned evolution
• being taught in its schools. The book itself
• was banned by two countries, Yugoslavia in
• 1935 and Greece in 1937.

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I suppose that writers should, in a way, be
flattered by censorship laws. They show a
primitive fear and dread at the magic of
print.-- John Mortimer
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Bannings and Burnings

• 1976 1994
• Margaret Laurences The Diviners has
• been challenged repeatedly and
• removed from senior highschool
• reading lists across Canada. In at
• least two provinces it does not appear
• on the curriculum. Cause of
• objectionLanguage and sexual
• content.

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Bannings and Burnings

• 1977
• A drawing of a nude boy in Maurice
• Sendaks In the Night Kitchen
• prompted the books removal from an
• Illinois school library for nudity to no
• purpose.

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"Censorship reflects a society's lack of
confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an
authoritarian regime..."-- Justice Potter
Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States,
383 U.S. 463 (1966)
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Bannings and Burnings

• 1988
• Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. The
• Race Relations Committee of the
• Toronto Board of Education
• recommended that the book be
• withdrawn from curriculum use in all
• Toronto high schools since it contained
• racial slurs. The board rejected the
• committees recommendation but
• circulated to all its schools the reasons
• for the parents objections that had led
• to the committees study of the book
• and asked its Committee on Bias in the
• Curriculum to suggest ways the book
• could be taught with sensitivity.

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It Continues on

• 1989
• Salman Rushdies novel The Satanic
• Verses caused a furor in the Islamic
• world due to its treatment of Islam and
• portrayal of the prophet Muhammad.
• Rushdie went into hiding due to a
• fatwa (sentence of death) decreed by
• Irans Ayatollah Khomeini for
• blasphemy. This was lifted in 1998.

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And On

• 2000
• One of the most popular children
• literature series, Harry Potter, written
• by J. K. Rowling, has been
• challenged by school boards because
• Harry Potter is engaged in wizardry,
• witchcraft, and magic-making, and that
• these activities are inappropriate for
• young readers. In some boards
• teachers have been asked not to use
• the books in the classroom.

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And On.

• 2001
• After the terrorist attacks in New York and
  Washington, the American Congress
• passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act. This allows the
  FBI the freedom to gain access
• to library borrowings of any American citizen,
  plus library patrons log-ons to
• Internet Web sites. AND, the FBI doesnt need to
  reveal the individuals
• identities.

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Bans continue .

• 2007
• The removal of this series of
• books from some of Canadas
• Catholic elementary school libraries
• and book fairs began with a single
• complaint.

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Go out and read

• Learn the difference between disapproval and
  censorship
• Read books that you find at the Freedom to Read
  displays at local libraries.
• Think about what the author is trying to say.
• Why were/are these books banned or censored?
  Discuss with your friends.

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Freedom To Read

• A statement of the basic tenets of the Freedom of
  Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical
  Council.
• "Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms
  . . . thought, belief, opinion, and
  expression." Canadian Charter of Rights and
  Freedoms
• Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of
  all Canadians, and freedom to read is part of
  that precious heritage.
• further info available at www.freedomtoread.c
  a