The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s classic novel about the Depression, had a rocky introduction in American libraries back in 1939. It was burned by the East St. Louis,Ill. Public Library, barred from the Buffalo, N.Y. Public Library and banned in Kansas City, Mo., and Kern County, Calif. Even today, as the National Steinbeck Center celebrates the centennial of Steinbeck’s birth, his books continue to be challenged. According to the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, Of Mice and Men was the second most challenged book of 2001, after the Harry Potter series, arguably a new children’s classic.

To raise awareness regarding the challenging of books today, exhibits across the country will be mounted during Banned Books Week, Sept. 21-28. The exhibit at the Macon County Public Library will focus on such American classics as Steinbeck’s novels, Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Banned Books Week 2002 has the theme “Let Freedom Read: Read a Banned Book.” Sponsored by the American Library Association, American Booksellers Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and others, Banned Books Week has been observed since 1982. This annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

For more information and resources on censorship and books, please visit the American Library Association’s Web site at http://www.ala.org/books/. The Macon County Public Library exhibit for Banned Books Week will be up through the end of September. For more information, please call 828.524.3600 during library operating hours.