Banned Books Week Screed: Here are the facts, Mr. Muncy

Link to September 25 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, "Finding censorship where there is none".

Excerpt: 'To you zealots and bigots and false patriots who live in fear of discourse. You screamers and banners and burners. . . ." These are the opening lines of the official Manifesto of Banned Books Week, which starts tomorrow. This annual "national celebration of the freedom to read" is led by the American Library Association (ALA) and co-sponsored by a number of professional associations and advocacy groups. Events and displays at "hundreds" of libraries and bookstores will "draw attention to the problem of censorship" in the U.S.

As the tone of the Manifesto suggests, the sponsors are more interested in confrontation than celebration.

[Mitchell Mundy is the chief operating officer of the Institute for American Values , "a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that contributes intellectually to strengthening families and civil society in the U.S. and the world."]

The Manifesto which so perturbs Mr. Mundy was written by author Ellen Hopkins. On September 17th, she explained on her blog how it came about.

Banned Books Week is coming soon. If you haven't already heard, Simon & Schuster asked me to write a poem [RG's emphasis],which they produced as a broadside. It's called Manifesto, and while I won't put the whole thing here, I will quote the last stanza when I wrap this up. The broadside will be on Banned Books Week tables across the country. I'll be taking a fistful to OK when I go Tuesday because Karin Perry cared enough about my message to make sure I'll appear Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., at Hillsdale Baptist College in Moore OK. I hope that room is full, because I will have lots to say. There and everywhere I go from here on out. Blanket censorship has no place in this country.

Here's what ALA has to say about its 2009 Banned Books Week event.

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information [RG's emphasis]while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.