As part of a 50-state salute to banned books, Florida State University students and faculty have been reading passages from banned books including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Invisible Man,” “Slaughterhouse Five,” and “A Wrinkle in Time.”
The annual event — part of a larger advocacy campaign promoted by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom — is sponsored by Friends of the Florida State University Libraries, R.M. Strozier Library, the Harold Goldstein Library and the Florida State University College of Law Library.
Banned Books Week highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available.
Banned Books Week events have been taking place throughout the week. Among those remaining:
Friday, Oct. 5:
Student American Library Association chapter/Banned Books Week Party: Harold Goldstein Library (time to be announced)
All Week:
An exhibition of books that have been the subject of litigation: FSU College of Law Library circulation desk
An exhibition of banned or challenged books in the Special Collections department, R.M. Strozier Library
For more information, contact Elizabeth Bettendorf of University Communications at (850) 644-5929 or ebettendorf@fsu.edu.