National Library Week 2011

This week is National Library Week in the U.S. (April 10-16), and the American Library Association listed its 10 most frequently challenged books of 2010, which I will list here for the curious:


1. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson Reasons
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
4. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
6. Lush by Natasha Friend
7. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
8. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
9. Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

While I have only read two of these titles, I am familiar with most of them, and now I am especially interested in number 8, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. This book gives a realistic portrayal of trying to live off of low-income jobs in America - why try to ban that? The ALA also reported 348 challenges to books in 2010 and at least 53 outright bans. I suppose that censorship will always go hand-in-hand with freedom of speech.

On a more positive note, in honor of National Library Week, librarians in Holyoke, Mass., put on a freeze flash mob at the local mall in which about 75 people froze while reading for about 5 minutes. Check it out!