The annual event in which a few librarians and journalists try to convince us that censorship is a real and dangerous problem in the United States is finally over. Thank God.
Banned Books Week is always accompanied by a good deal of misinformation and fearmongering. The name of the week itself is an abuse of language. The “banned” books on the list that the American Library Association has published every year since 1982 are neither banned nor censored. They are books that parents and taxpayers have requested be removed from schools or public libraries. The books remain widely available online and in bookstores — at least until they appear on the ALA’s list. Being a banned book has never been so good for sales, and some bookstores can’t keep up with demand.
