Freedom of expression and thought is a fundamental human right, and is so important that it is the first amendment to the United States Constitution, yet there are those who would deny that right because some ideas that are expressed by others are contrary to their personal opinions.
The last week of September is the annual Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate the freedom to read what we want, when we want. And so, for the past 30 years, the American Library Association has been cataloging challenges to the freedom to read; some of these challenges have resulted in books officially being banned and removed from library shelves.
There were 387 challenges in 2010 alone. This is a disturbing statistic for a country that purports to be the land of the free.
Celebrate your freedom to read.
This is a video I put together that shows just a few of the titles that have been the target of censors.

For more information on the Banned Books Awareness and Reading for Knowledge literary freedom project, please visit http://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/