Banned Book Week

Banned Book Week is a time to celebrate our freedom to read what interests us. All over America, and all over the world, people are banning books due to their own personal believes and preferences. While we believe that every parent has a right to decide what their child should read, we do not believe every parent has the right to choose what other children should read or have access to. This is why we try to include as many books, about as many topics, as we can.

If we banned every book in the library that offended someone, we would have no books left! Check out the American Library Association and see if any of your favorites are on the banned book list.

Banned VS Challenged: A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. (American Library Association)

Did you know

While Green Lake has never officially banned a book from the school library, there have been several challenges and attempts to ban throughout the years. It is not an easy process and we take it very seriously.

In order to officially ban a book, a committee must be formed consisting of teachers, parents, law enforcement, representatives of different faiths, students, and community members. All of these people have to read the book in its entirety, discuss it, and decide as a group if it should be banned. It then goes to the school board for a "final" decision, but it doesn't end there! If the board issues a ruling that people disagree with, the case can be taken all the way to the Supreme Court!