to free men from the bondage of irrational fears

CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. - The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution

Twenty-five years after the first observance of Banned Books Week, a recent request to remove nine books--including The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and Beloved by Toni Morrison--from a Chicagoland school district saw more than 1,000 people stay well after 1 a.m. debating the constitutionality of the move. Fortunately, this time, the books were all allowed to remain on the shelves.

Actions such as these are not uncommon. In 2005 alone there were 405 known attempts to remove books from the shelves of libraries and schools (where over 70 percent of such challenges take place). Of these titles, Robie Harris’ It’s Perfectly Normal was the most challenged, with the other top five most cited books in 2005 being perennial favorites of the censorious:

Forever by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language (and one of more than 70 titles a Fayetteville, AK mother requested be removed last year).
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language.

Additionally, there is this list of the top 100 challenged books of all time, and below, the top ten challenged authors from 1990 to 2004, according to the list of 8,332 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association include:

1. Alvin Schwartz
2. Judy Blume
3. Robert Cormier
4. J.K. Rowling
5. Michael Willhoite
6. Katherine Paterson
7. Stephen King
8. Maya Angelou
9. R.L. Stine
10. John Steinbeck

For more information on Banned Books Week you can visit the American Library Association website. They have great resources for fighting challenges to free speech and other First Amendment issues. Amnesty International is also a great resource for information on censorship and ways to support the fight against artistic persecution. Their focus during Banned Books Week is on "the plight of individuals who are persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read."
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The above image depicting the Statue of Liberty lost in a good book is by illustrator Roger Roth, from The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History and was written by Jennifer Armstrong (Knopf).