These are the menaces of society, corrupting children and disseminating unfavorable knowledge to all who encounter them: books.

Since 1982, the American Library Association (ALA) has worked to dispel this extreme, yet all too real, perspective with the annual Banned Books Week.


The celebration, which lasts from September 26 to October 3, is dedicated to spreading appreciation for freedom of speech and raising awareness to the violation book banning imposes upon this freedom.


As a nation we have periodically been confronted by the prospect of censorship. Though we have transcended the days of the Red Scare, the drive behind book banning echoes a similar sentiment: the filtering of ideas deemed unsuitable for the public. The Miller Test, a three-part test established by case law, is used often as the guide for banning literature identified as offensive. Though an individual must provide substantial evidence of a book's obscene nature, success has been shown in the banning of seemingly innocent classics such as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.


So, why is this a big deal? Isn't it better if books containing explicit material aren't readily available? According to the ALA, because the First Amendment doesn't protect speech that is obscene, there are infinite possibilities of unjustly silencing individuals based on the whim of another. After all, who has the final say on what is obscene and what isn't?


To some pyromaniac-parents in Lewiston, Maine, Harry Potter merits a good, old-fashioned book burning. Holden Caulfield's affinity for four letter words landed J.D. Salinger's New York Times Bestseller a repeated position on schools' lists of banned books across the nation. Aldous Huxley's depiction of a god revered as "Our Ford" in a drugged and passive society, caused schools to challenge Brave New World as recently as 1993.


Whether it's a promotion of witchcraft or a society worshiping Henry Ford, everyone defines obscenity differently. There is too much room for interpretation and infinite possibility for corruption. For this reason, the ALA stresses the importance in halting book banning in order to preserve freedom of speech and save "the boy who lived" from the fire.