The first book banned and burned in the New World was published in London in 1650: William Pynchon’s “The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption,†a critique of Puritanism.
Mr. Pynchon, a Puritan living in Massachusetts Bay Colony, found little welcome for his views and was eventually forced to return to England.
Fast forward three centuries, and there were about 300 cases of attempted censorship reported in 1980, the library group says.
Tag Archives: Banned Books Week
It is Banned Books Week, 2015. Refresh your Recollection on your ‘Freedom to Read’ via ALA’s The Freedom to Read Statement
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Source: The Freedom to Read Statement | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues
Banned Books Week is Coming: Are Americans falling in love with censorship?Â
Freedom of speech campaigners hit back as a recent poll reveals an increasing appetite among US adults for banning books and restricting children’s access to ‘inappropriate’ library books
Source: Are Americans falling in love with censorship? | Books | The Guardian
Banned Books Week is coming: What it’s like to top banned book lists around the worldÂ
Dav Pilkey’s bestselling Captain Underpants books have been pulled from the shelves and out of children’s hands for being ‘inappropriate’ and ‘anti-establishment’. Here’s why that’s so wrong.
Source: What it’s like to top banned book lists around the world | Children’s books | The Guardian
Banned Books Week, 2013: Margaret Atwood ‘s The Handmaid’s Tale
Today’s banned book is Margaret Atwood ‘s The Handmaid’s Tale, which has been banned for sexually explicit content.
The Millions – Google+ – Today’s banned book is #margaretatwood ‘s The Handmaid’s….