National Banned Book Week kicks off on Sunday, Sept. 30, and librarians, intellectual freedom advocates and book lovers everywhere will be marking the occasion by reading challenged and banned books and taking a stand for free speech.
Here in Montana, book challenges happen every year. This year, the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -- a National Book Award winner for young adult fiction by Sherman Alexie -- survived a challenge in the Geraldine School District. The ACLU of Montana and the Montana Library Association came to the book's defense. While we believe that parents have a right to make decisions about what their children will read, we firmly believe that parents do not have the right to make decisions about what other people's children read.
You can learn more about Banned Books week and how you can support intellectual freedom on our website's banned books page.
Or, if you are going to be at the Festival of the Book in Missoula next weekend, join us at a presentation about banned books on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. at the Missoula Public Library.
