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Philippi Public Library hosts Banned Book Week

PHILIPPI — Philippi Public Libraries, in association with the American Library Association (ALA), as well as thousands of public and academic libraries across the nation and bookstores and publishers, will show support of the right to choose books freely, without censorship Sept. 24-28.

The library will be sponsoring Banned Books Week – Celebrating the Freedom to Read, which is an annual celebration of the right to access books without fear of censorship.

According to ALA’s website www.ala.org, “The ALA promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.’

The event, Banned Books Week, is typically held in the last week of September and highlights the value of free and open access to information and helps to bring together the entire book community — librarians and their staff, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers and readers of all kinds — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even if they may be considered unorthodox or unpopular.

Banned Books Week was a response to the growing number of books challenged in schools, bookstores, and libraries. The ALA defines these challenges as “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.”

Judy Buckner Larry, director of the Philippi Public Library, and the library staff members encourage everyone to take some time and visit the library during this week, select, and read a banned or challenged book.

Larry stated, “These are some of our most basic and treasured values and as proprietors of public information, we believe that imposing restraints upon the availability of information in a free society presents a clear and present danger to the operation of our democracy. Intellectual freedom forms the foundation of our American democracy. Particularly during Banned Books Week, we want our patrons to know that censorship is dangerous and harmful to our rights as American citizens and that we honor the right of each individual to intellectual freedom.”

From now until Sept. 29, in observance of and participation in Banned Books Week — Celebrating the Freedom to Read, library patrons will find a display in the Philippi Public Library showing the dangers of censorship.

As Larry states, “We are not doing this to censor the books, but to bring awareness to the dangers of censorship in all its forms. We hope to bring attention to these books and hopefully someone will decide to check them out because they were banned or challenged at some point. We also hope they will read it. We hope the display will bring attention. We want them to take the freedom to read seriously. We should never take censorship lightly.”

The library will also be hosting a fine amnesty period during Banned Books Week wherein fines on overdue books and materials will be waived once returned. Though this does not erase previous fines you may have, and fines for lost or damaged books will not be waived.

Philippi Public Library is normally open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays; and is closed to the public on the first Fridays of the month for Staff Development Day and extensive cleaning. Although Banned Books Week is recognized throughout the entire week, the library will be closed Sept. 29 for the library’s largest fundraising event, The Tucker Community Foundation’s Run For It. For more information about Banned Books Week or other programs at the Philippi Public Library, call 304-457-3495 and or stop by your local library and talk with the staff.

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