This week is Banned Books Week and we are celebrating the freedom to read in BGS Library. Most school librarians have a good knowledge of books and the pupils that use their libraries. We may occasionally restrict lending certain books to younger students but the concept of banning books sets our teeth on edge! However, you would be surprised how many books have incurred the wrath of various groups, individuals and governments across the world through the years. Books that you might consider great literature or even completely innocuous have been banned for reasons that are numerous, varied and sometimes quite strange!
Some of the most famous cases include The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie which is still banned in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Quatar, Indonesia, South Africa, and India because of its criticism of Islam. Rushdie was forced into hiding in 1989 for 10 years after a fatwa was issued against him by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned in the UK because of obscenity until 1960 when Penguin Books won the right to publish an unexpurgated edition in a famous court case. The first four books in the Harry Potter series have the dubious honour of being the most banned books in America. Called a "masterpiece of satanic deception" and challenged and censored for promoting the occult, these books have been burned in various states across the US. Perhaps one of the strangest cases involves the fantastic Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey which frequently appears in America's top ten most frequently challenged books list. These books have been deemed "anti-authoritarian" and "inappropriate" partly due to the semi-nudity of Captain Underpants who fights for "Truth, Justice, and all that is Pre-Shrunk and Cottony" in guess what - his underpants!
There are lots of interesting articles and views on Twitter and elsewhere online this week. Here's a thought-provoking one from the Huffington Post. Have a read and see what you think.
Mrs Osafo
Mrs Osafo
