This week, September 22-28, is Banned Books Week, an annual event coordinated by the American Library Association that celebrates the freedom to read. Banned books are ones that have been removed, or threatened with removal, from library shelves because some felt their content was inappropriate for certain audiences. Many of the titles deemed controversial in the past have become today’s classics. We’ve already shared with you some of the surprising modern banned titles that are in our collection . In addition to the works listed there, our Dibner Library contains early editions of works by Galileo, Martin Luther and Voltaire, prohibited by the Catholic Church and listed in their infamous Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books).
Below are some of our staff’s personal favorites. Would you agree?