Sault Ste. Marie Public Library is challenging the public to read books that have been banned or challenged in celebration of Freedom to Read Week, an annual nationwide event organized by the Book and Periodical Council which takes place during the third week of February.
The local library has put together a list of 50 books that have been pulled from the Freedom to Read Week's list of challenged works with hopes readers will digest as many of the banned or challenged books as possible over the course of the next month.
Elise Schofield, manager of community engagement for Sault Ste. Marie Public Library, says the library is joining other libraries across Canada to highlight Freedom to Read Week in order to celebrate people's intellectual freedom and freedom of expression that are granted under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The library safeguards that right, and we encourage people to exercise that right by reading a banned or challenged book during this Freedom to Read Week,” said Schofield. “It’s important to be able to have access to those contents, so we can see in history that books have been banned, or even burned, for their knowledge or what they contain inside of them.
“We really look to support all expressions, ideas and opinions to celebrate that we are able to read whatever we would like.”
The library is encouraging the public to pick up reading sheets at James L. McIntyre Centennial Library or the North Branch. The sheets can also be accessed online or by calling the library's North Branch at (705)759-5248.
Readers will be given one ballot for each of the books on the list that are read. All forms and ballots must be submitted by Feb. 28.
“I foresee a lot of people taking on this event, especially since there’s some childhood classics that they might enjoy re-reading,” Schofield said.
The following is the library’s list of banned or challenged books:
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Native Son, Richard Wright (e-audio only)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Maus, Art Spieglemen
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (Spanish and e-book only)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
All American Boys, Jason Reynolds
The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Alexie Sherman
Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Perez
Harry Potter (series), J.K. Rowling
We All Fall Down, Robert Cormier
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
Thirteen Reasons, Jay Asher
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Two Boys Kissing, David Levithan
Looking for Alaska, John Green
Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
Habibi, Craig Thompson
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
A Stolen Life, Jaycee Dugard
Drama, Raina Telgemeier
The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
Crank, Ellen Hopkins (e-book only)
My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
Forever, Judy Blume
Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, Michael A. Bellesiles
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
Summer of My German Soldier, Bette Green
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
This One Summer, Mariko Tamaki