NEMCC Cultural Arts Committee joins with Eula Dees Memorial Library to let "fREADom" ring during Banned Books Week

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (09/18/2023) — Northeast Mississippi Community College's Cultural Arts Committee has joined forces with the Eula Dees Memorial Library to raise awareness for Banned Books Week in October.

This collaborative effort aims to shed light on the books that have been banned or banished from bookshelves by educational institutions, municipalities, or other government entities for assorted reasons.

Entitled "fREADom," the Banned Books Week initiative will highlight the reasons behind the banning of numerous classics and modern books.

To support Banned Books Week, Northeast's Cultural Arts Committee is offering gold T-shirts with a Banned Book Week motif for sale.

Those interested in purchasing a T-shirt can place their orders through the Eula Dees Memorial Library on the Booneville campus. T-shirts are priced at $20 each, and the deadline for orders is September 20.

Timeless classics such as "Gone with the Wind," "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," and "Pride and Prejudice," along with modern favorites like "Harry Potter," "Goosebumps," and the entire "Junie B. Jones" series have faced censorship.

Even the historically significant "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" has been banned in some locations since 1946 due to its honest discussions about puberty and teenage situations.

The Holy Bible has also been among the most often challenged books due to its religious viewpoints.

Reasons for book bans or challenges range from content related to alcohol, bullying, or profanity, to themes of drug use, poor spelling, and going against public morals.

Some books, such as "All the King's Men," have been criticized for presenting a "depressing view of life."

According to the American Library Association (ALA), "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie was the most banned or banished book from 2010 to 2019, facing controversy for its portrayal of alcohol, bullying, violence, profanity, and allegations against the author.

In the previous decade (2000-2009), J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series claimed the top spot, with objections raised over age suitability, religious viewpoints, anti-family discussions, darkness/scariness, and setting bad examples.

In the 1990s, Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" was deemed unsuitable for its intended age group.

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