Banned Books Week sheds light on censorship

As a child, were you a fan of reading any of the Harry Potter books? In some parts of the United States these books, and others, have been banned from schools and even taken off the shelves of libraries due to complaints of bad examples, dark witchcraft and offensive language.

To highlight the censorship, Valencia College is taking part in Banned Books Week this week, a national event by the American Library Association in which libraries celebrate free access to books and other informational material.

“It’s good to raise awareness about the value of information in general,” Courtney Moore, east campus librarian said. “Having a concentrated effort by libraries and schools across the nation provides us a unique opportunity to celebrate our right to read whenever we choose to read.”

The goal is to bring together the entire book community- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists and teachers in shared support to seek and express ideas. This year, the Valencia East Campus library will have exhibits to highlight some of the more famous banned books like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Catcher In The Rye,” “Brave New World,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Of Mice And Men” and “Fifty Shades of Gray.”

To commemorate the event, Valencia Volunteers and the Valencia Book Nerd Club will host “Banned Book Trivia” on Thursday at 1 p.m. in the building 3 atrium.

There will be prizes and pizza will be served.

Sonja Mollison, east campus librarian says banned books are “controversial,” but this event will, “reach out to everyone.”