WEST VIRGINIA (WOAY) – This week is Banned Books Week, a yearly event celebrating the right to read.
Banning books is a hot topic occasionally brought up, with the idea being to prevent books from being kept or sold in certain places. One example is schools. Oftentimes parents will ask certain books be banned due to adult themes.
The ACLU of West Virginia says banning books is often used as a way to censor information or ideas.
“Every year we see attempts to challenge or ban books. Challenges often come from parents or organizations,” Billy Wolfe with the West Virginia ACLU said. “Sometimes under the guise of protecting young people from harmful ideology.”
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is often one book banned in some schools due to what some deem as racy content.
According to the ACLU, books are challenged before they are banned. A challenge is the attempt to ban a book from being sold or allowed somewhere. A ban is when an organization accepts the challenge and bans a book. Most book challenges fail and the book in question is not banned. But each year the ACLU sees many books challenged and banned throughout the country.
