The Thirtieth Anniversary of Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week Thirtieth Anniversary By Elton Camp That some books are contemptible I must agree But that’s not some fanatic’s call, but up to me When books the government undertakes to ban That type censorship can quickly get out of hand Judith Krug of the American Library Association Was, in 1982, responsible for the week’s creation A “challenge” is a request some book be banned Surprising ones have been subjects of this demand Golding’s Lord of the Flies has seen banning tries And To Kill a Mockingbird has been called unwise Orwell’s Animal Farm has been said to bring harm Since self-appointed censors satire does alarm Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl is called unfit By those who, in righteous judgment, try to sit Even though Mark Twain was liberal for his day Huckleberry Finn some have tried to put away The American Heritage Dictionary was not fine Because “objectionable words” it chose to define Catch 22 and Salinger’s classic, Catcher in the Rye To bring about censorship quite a few will still try Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 about censorship is one That the “righteous” have put under the critic’s gun Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath was once even burned Because vulgar words the censor’s anger it earned What gives others the right for them to try to decide What books are unfit to read and then them hide? Sex and violence the Bible often candidly tells about For it to be banned will we someday hear that shout? When bad about some writing a critic has said It is likely that by a young person it will be read