One of the great things about blogging is that it gives me two times a year to publicly celebrate banned, challenged and censored books. In September the American Library Association recognizes Banned Books Week. Every February the Freedom of Expression Committee, a part of the Book and Periodical Council of Canada celebrates Freedom To Read Week. I love banned books, challenged books, and books that people attempt to censor. Nothing will get a book on my To Be Read list faster than hearing that someone is trying to keep me from reading it.

I don't ever remember being told that I was allowed to read a book - not from my parents, not from teachers and not from librarians. I was never told that I couldn't buy a specific book due to content (price, however, was usually the defining point). In North America we don't have to sneak around and meet in secret to discuss books as the women did in Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran. I was lucky enough to hear Nafisi speak a few years ago at a Pen Canada event. Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian author and Nobel Prize winner, also spoke at that event. He spent time in prison where he wrote a collection of poems and then after his release he went into voluntary exile.

As a Canadian intellectual freedom is my right. It is guaranteed to me by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
[...]
b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

It is a right that is endorsed by the Canadian Library Association in their Statement on Intellectual Freedom.

It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.

This freedom allows me to blog. It allows me to read. It allows me to blog about reading. It allows me to go to online forums and make friends with people who live half a world away. I'm happy to be reminded of these rights and privileges each year.

What would such an event been without a reading challenge? Nothing of course! Following last year's success the Pelham Public Library is hosting a Banned Book Challenge at Fahrenheit 451: Freedom to Read. They offer several banned books lists for download on their blog as does the Freedom to Read site (it's hidden on their Censorship in Canada page - please note that both lists are PDFs). Books on these lists range from Margeret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to Harper Lee's fabulous To Kill a Mockingbird to Joyce Carol Oate's Foxfire to one of my childhood favourites Barbara Smucker's Underground to Canada.

Tammy's Book Nook was the blog that alerted me to the banned book challenge. In addition to participating in the official challenge she's also setting a personal challenge.

The challenge only lasts 4 months, so I'm limiting my official goal to 5 books -- but I'm going to list the 12 I picked and see if I can't finish them all by next year's Freedom to Read Week.

At Reading Outside the Box Carrie is reflective about Freedom to Read Week.

I thought of life before the printing press, where people painstakingly copied text by hand. To own a book, one would need to be wealthy. Now we only need to pop into a local library and check out any thing our heart desires. How wonderful is that?! I think we need to remind ourselves of that, and of every little thing we have, and truly count our blessings.

No system is perfect and yes in Canada we still face censorship. Books are still blocked at the border by Customs Canada, particularly those that deal with homosexuality. It was just last year that Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium in Vancouver declared defeat in their attempts to stop GLBT censorship at the border. They also recently put the store up for sale. After serving the GLBT community for 25 years and fighting all the way up to the Supreme Court censorship won in Canada.

In a post about Little Sister's court case, porn and politcs at Sex Geek I found a quote attributed to the now deceased Jane Rule from her testimony on behalf of Little Sisters.

We are a community speaking with our passion and our humanity in a world that is so homophobic that it sees us as nothing but sexual creatures instead of good Canadian citizens, fine artists, and brave people trying to make Canada a better place for everybody to speak freely and honestly about who they are.

This week take a few minutes to reflect on the reading choices available to you. And those that are not. Reflect on your ability to write freely without persecution. And those that cannot. Read a banned book. Write a letter to help free a writer in prison. Go to an author reading. Write a letter to the editor. Celebrate your freedom to read.