Banned Books Week is celebrated the last week of September every year at libraries and book stores around the country. It is a week to reflect on the importance of the First Amendment and free access to information and ideas. Banned Books Week draws attention to the dangers of censorship by highlighting attempts of banning books that have occurred across the United States. Some of America’s best pieces of literature have been challenged, restricted or banned in schools and libraries. Some of the most often banned books include past Scranton Reads selections such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath.
This year, Scranton Reads has selected to highlight the works of Mark Twain, an author who is no stranger to controversy. Twain’s best known work, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published in 1884 and was promptly banned by the Concord Public Library in Massachusetts in 1885 and then again by the Brooklyn Public Library in New York in 1905. Twain’s use of the vernacular was considered vulgar and demeaning by its critics. Twain replied, “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”
Many of Mark Twain’s later works were never published because newspapers feared the controversy that surrounded him. Many of his works are still banned and challenged to this day. This October, Scranton Reads encourages everyone to see what all the fuss is about and celebrate your freedom to make that choice by reading one of our favorite banned authors, Mark Twain.
For more information about Banned Books Week please visit the American Library Association’s website at
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm.
Scranton Reads by Sheli McHugh, MLS, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian at University of Scranton and Co-Chair of Scranton Reads 2010
Scranton Reads is a community reading project organized by the City of Scranton and the Albright Memorial Library. Scranton Reads has two main goals. The first goal is to get people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds to read the same book. The second is to share their experience and ideas on that title with one another through discussion groups and events during the month of October.
In the past, we have selected a wide range of titles from classic American literature, to historical non-fiction, to a collection of short stories. This year, we decided to try something slightly different. We are celebrating the works of Mark Twain, particularly The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We are encouraging the community to choose their favorite Twain work, attend a book discussion or other event, and share what you thought of the text or the author.
Each October we celebrate Scranton Reads by doing a bus trip to a location that relates to the title. In 2008 we visited the Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington D.C. to correspond to The Maltese Falcon. Last year, we traveled to The Vietnam Memorial while reading The Things They Carried. This year, we will be heading up to Hartford, CT to visit the Mark Twain House & Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
We have also planned annual film festivals, plays, dramatic readings and more! This year is no exception. Local film buffs, Dr. John McInerney and Pete Chapla, are hosting weekly films viewings and discussions. The University of Scranton Players are putting on a production of Tom Sawyer. Members of the Scranton Reads Committee will be reading selections on Courthouse Square during Pages and Places. The list goes on and on!
Check our website regularly for the listing of events, updates, pictures and news at www.scrantonreads.org!
“Scranton Reads: One City, One Book” A Celebration of Literature and Community by Jack Finnerty, MLS, Director of the Scranton Public Library
“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn…there was nothing before, there has been nothing as good since.” Ernest Hemingway
Strong praise from an author who himself has garnered much praise – including the Nobel Prize for literature. Does Hemingway – in a weak moment of uncharacteristic modesty – overstate the case, or is his assessment on the money? You be the judge.
This October, “Scranton Reads: One City, One Book” will focus on the works of Mark Twain, with particular attention paid to his finest work “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Join us as we read, consider, discuss and debate this powerful exploration of human nature.
[Stop by the Albright Library for your free copy of the book, and visit our website often www.scrantonreads.org]
Elizabeth Davis, MLIS, is the Children’s Outreach Coordinator for the Lackawanna County Children’s Library and Co-Chair of Scranton Reads 2010