Del 23 al 30 de septiembre, la Asociación Norteamericana de Bibliotecas (ALA) organiza la Semana de los Libros Prohibidos, para tratar de difundir lo máximo posible todos aquellos libros que tanto hoy como a lo largo de la historia han estados prohibidos por alguna u otra razón, y que, evidentemente, son grandes obras literarias.

Este año cuentan además con la ayuda de Google Books, que han puesto online una página especial Celebrate Your Freedom to Read (celebra tu libertad para leer), en la que podemos encontrar muchos de esos libros prohibidos, desde Lolita, hasta Trópico de Cáncer, pasando por 1984 o El Guardián entre el Centeno. Además se insta a los internautas a notificar los libros que estén prohibidos en su país para incorporarlos al catálogo, una estupenda iniciativa de Google. [Vía BoingBoing]

En el sitio web de ALA se puede también votar por tus libros prohibidos favoritos, o acceder a la lista It’s Perfectly Normal, el top list de libros prohibidos. Y a la proclamación que a continuación copiamos, que cualquier biblioteca puede suscribir para unirse a la iniciativa.

Proclama

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the La Brújula Verde Blog Library celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, September 24-October 2, 2005, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the La Brújula Verde Blog Library encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the La Brújula Verde Blog Library encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

Adopted by the La Brújula Verde Blog Library
14 de Septiembre de 2006
Oviedo, España