By: Hannah Guida

Are you wondering about those “I read Banned Books” posters that have appeared this week in the halls of the Farm? National Banned Book Week,  which is run by American Library Association, is a week for books that have been banned or censored to be recognized and appreciated. The event lasts an entire week and is from Sept. 22-28.

Various books have been banned by different organizations all over the world. Societies used to burn books to prevent bright thinkers from altering the society, such as Galileo or Copernicus, to keep their society very vanilla. In the modern world, the U.S. government prevents that from happening through the First Amendment which clearly states, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freed
However, books are regularly banned in our country, such as in 2012 Captain Underpants was banned along with The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.om of speech or of the press.”

“One of our schoo’ls goals is to promote literacy,” said Debbie Livingston, the teacher librarian here at the Farm. Banned Book Week is a time to coax kids into reading and make it seem “dangerous.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and the Bible are just some of the books that were removed from libraries nation-wide for a long time. All of these books are now allowed in all libraries.

“The only book I can think of off the top of my head that is banned from school libraries in Jeffco is 50 Shades of Gray by E.L. James,” recounted Livingston.

Principal Griff Wirth said, “Hopefully part of kids’ thinking is why the book was banned in the first place. “

The book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was banned in Chicago schools for a long time. The graphic novel is about an Iranian girl who grew up in a war zone and how her childhood looked. The reason Chicago school districts said it was banned was due to “graphic scenery” and “adult situations.”  Many Stephen King books are banned in school libraries due to the “language,” “content,” and yet again “graphic scenery.”

Most people’s thinking is that a young person will run into “adult situations” in the real world and “graphic scenery” in video games, so what is the difference?

Here at Wheat Ridge High School, there are no banned books, but there are some local libraries where some books are still banned. However, most public libraries will still carry pornography.

Ironically, banning books makes them very popular because people want to read dangerous and perhaps risqué things.

“Banning books really comes down to First Amendment rights, “explained Livingston.

If you’re interested in more information about Banned Book Week visit ALA. org or www.bannedbooksweek.org.