Exercise First Amendment rights at Banned Books Read Out

The freedom to read whatever we want is a right we often exercise without a second thought.

But that’s not always the case.

“Students should be aware that in our country, there are still people who want to remove certain ideas. We believe everybody’s opinions should be available in print,” said Linda Naru, assistant university librarian.

Students and employees can read aloud from their favorite challenged novel at the Daley Library’s annual Banned Books Read Out from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday in the quad.

Banned Books Week is held annually to celebrate the value of open access to information and the importance of the First Amendment. The national event was created 30 years ago by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. “It’s something we try to do every year as a reminder about the freedom of speech that we have in the U.S.,” Naru said.

Every year, the American Library Association publishes a list of the 100 most challenged or banned books, including:

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
• TTFN, Lauren Myracle
• Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
• The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
• Night, Elie Wiesel
• The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin.

“We’d like anyone who feels they’d like to validate the position of a book to come out and read it,” Naru said.