Bookstores Get Set for Banned Books Week

In a week where librarians and Attorney General John Ashcroft battled over the controversial USA Patriot Act, and a Baldwin, Kansas, school district superintendent made news by pulling an award-winning book from a ninth-grade class, it seems only fitting that Banned Books Week kicks off this Saturday, September 20. Running through September 27, Banned Books Week is the national celebration of the First Amendment, and independent bookstores and others are doing their part to help commemorate the event.

On Saturday, September 20, Ruminator Bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota, will call attention to the debate over the Patriot Act with the panel discussion "Caught in the Act: The USA Patriot Act and Civil Liberties Today."

"The discussion of censorship in America is one of freedom versus protection," said Eve Marofsky, marketing director for Ruminator. "By shifting focus from the book to the reader, the Patriot Act engages that same conversation in a brand new way."

The USA Patriot Act gives the FBI expanded authority to search business records, including the records of libraries and bookstores. The bill has garnered tremendous opposition from the public, media, and members of Congress and the Senate. Most notably, Rep. Bernie Sanders introduced federal legislation, The Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157), which would amend Section 215 of the Patriot Act to protect the privacy of bookstore and library records.

Marofsky said she felt that it was important to look at the Patriot Act from both sides of the equation and invited speakers to argue both sides. Though she added, "It was very difficult to find someone that supports it!"

Panelists for the event are Scott Johnson, director of the Center of the American Experiment and adjunct professor of law at St. Thomas University Law School; Kimberly Edson, head of reader services, Rochester Public Library; Matt Ehling, coordinator of the St. Paul Bill of Rights Defense Committee; and David Schultz, professor at Hamline University Graduate School of Public Administration and Management. Peter Watson, counsel to the Minnesota Senate, will moderate the discussion.

A percentage of sales from September 20 - September 27 will go to the St. Paul Public Libraries and to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). "We work a lot with ABFFE, and they … protect our rights to run our bookstore," Marofsky said. "It's an important group and provides education to the public."

In Newton, Iowa, Mattingly Music & Book has coordinated its first-ever Freedom to Read Celebration in conjunction with Banned Books Week. "We've been working hard at community building," Elaine Mattingly, the store's co-owner, told BTW. "This event will be the first time that we've done a collaboration with [the Newton Public Library, Uncle Nancy's Coffeehouse], and us."

The event will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 25 at Uncle Nancy's. The main speaker will be slam poet/activist/publisher Brett Axel, who edited the critically acclaimed collection Will Work for Peace (Zeropanik Press). In addition to Axel, other events will include improvisational theatre interpretations from banned books by local high school students, an open reading from banned books by the public, and comments from a local lawyer regarding censorship. Additionally, the local library is reviewing Axel's work for the local media, and there will be a banned books display at both Mattingly Music & Book and Uncle Nancy's Coffeehouse.

In New Orleans, free expression groups will celebrate Banned Books Week for the fourth straight year with an event at the House of Blues on September 25. Local writers will read selections from books that have been banned or challenged, and event sponsors will briefly discuss First Amendment Rights in the wake of the USA Patriot Act, Internet blocking filters, and music censorship. The event will run from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and is sponsored by the ACLU of Louisiana, New Orleans Gulf-South Booksellers Association, New Orleans House of Blues, New Orleans Public Libraries, and Friends of the New Orleans Public Library. Proceeds from book sales at the event are going to ABFFE.

Maybe the most apropos event for Banned Books Week isn't actually a celebratory event, but a special school board meeting in Baldwin, Kansas, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on September 22. The meeting will decide whether the award-winning book, We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier (Laure Leaf), will be withheld or returned to ninth grade orientation classes, as reported by the Associated Press. A Baldwin school district superintendent's decision to pull the book from the class -- without input from the school board -- drew criticism from a board member who believes the superintendent overstepped his authority, according to AP. The book is still available in the high school library. --David Grogan