This is Banned Books Week, an annual event organized by the American Library Association to highlight what it considers a threat to freedom when people seek to have books banned from libraries and schools.
It seems this issue goes in cycles. In the 1990s, there was a lot of push by some conservative groups to have certain controversial books taken out of school libraries. But the effort eventually faded, as it usually does.
Just recently in Jackson County, the mother of a student in the county school system contested a book assignment to read, “The Giver,” a popular book that has recently been made into a movie. The mother also wrote a letter to the editor about the book, which she said wasn’t appropriate for her child. Although her student was allowed to read another book, she wanted “The Giver” removed from the school’s approved book list.
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