Banned Books Week: Celebrating the freedom to read, Sept. 24 - 30

Townsville - Censorship alert


What do Black Beauty, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and American Psycho have in common? Not only are they best sellers, they have also made the challenged or banned books list.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, highlighting the value of free and open access to information. By focusing on efforts to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular (American Library Association). 




Cairns - Flip the titles to see why these books are banned



Come into Cairns Campus Library or the Mabo library in Townsville to see the displays of supposedly scandalous books from Queensland and around the world. You may be surprised by the list of titles, as well as the number of banned books you have already read! With warnings like,"Makes casual sex look like fun" and "Trash and suitable only for the slums", you're sure to find something sensational to read. All titles are available for loan.

You can find out more about banned books from the Banned Books Week website or from resources in our library collection. The Auslit database also has a comprehensive list of Australian and international banned book titles for further reading.


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