Although Banned Books Week starts Saturday, ABFFE, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers and the other sponsors of the event will mark the opening of the week formally on Monday by honoring two adults and two kids who played important roles in fighting censorship of the Harry Potter books this year. The four "Banned Book Week Heroes" will receive medals at a ceremony in the Madison Hall of the Library of Congress in Washington.

	Blume and Mannino Join ABFFE Program on Censorship of Children's Books Media Coalition Release Shooting the Messenger on Media Violence Previous ABFFE Updates

Mary Dana and Nancy Zennie were the leaders of the campaign that overturned restrictions in the public schools of Zeeland, Michigan, in May. Mary is a teacher in the Zeeland schools who circulated a petition to other teachers and staff protesting the actions of her boss, the school superintendent. Nancy is a sheep farmer and the mother of two children in the Zeeland schools. Together, they organized Muggles for Harry Potter, the forerunner of the national Muggles group that now has more than 14,000 members.

Julia Mayersohn, a 13-year-old from New Jersey, wrote a strong letter of opposition to Family Friendly Libraries, a group that supported restrictions on the use of the Potter books in the schools. She then posted her view on a number of Internet bulletin boards. She has communicated with more than 100 people who share her concern about censorship. 

Billy Smith is a seventh grader from Garden Grove, California, who spent last summer introducing Harry Potter to kids from low-income families who cannot afford books. He volunteered at an elementary school where he read aloud from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Although Billy is being honored mainly for helping make the Potter books available to everyone, he is a strong opponent of censorship. "When they try to ban books, it's like trying to get rid of kids' imaginations," he says. 

For the second year in a row, ABFFE will distribute more than 1,100 Banned Books Week kits at no charge to its members and to members of the American Booksellers Association. The ALA estimates that 2,000-3,000 libraries will also participate.

Blume and Mannino Join ABFFE Program on Censorship of Children's Books

ABFFE is also sponsoring a Banned Books Week event on Thursday, September 28. ABFFE director Cammie Mannino will join authors Judy Blume and Carolivia Herron in discussing the problem of school censorship. The program, "Censors and the Schools: The Battle over Children's Literature," is being held in New York at the Freedom Forum, 580 Madison Ave. (between 56th and 57th Streets), from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is cosponsored by the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Blume's leading role in opposing censorship is well known. Herron is the author of "Nappy Hair," a children's book that was the target of a protest in Brooklyn, New York, by African-American parents who objected to its use in a public school; the parents contended that the book perpetuates ethnic stereotypes, and the teacher who had introduced the book to her students was forced to seek reassignment. 

Mannino, the owner of Halfway Down the Stairs, a children's bookstore in suburban Detroit, waged a successful two-year campaign to reinstate Suzanne Staples' novel, "Shabanu," in her local school system. The Freedom Forum program reunites Mannino and Blume, two of the members of the very well-regarded panel on children's censorship sponsored by ABFFE at BookExpo this year. It is hoped that people outside New York may get a chance to see it because it being taped as an episode of "Speaking Freely," a TV series produced by the Freedom Forum. The show is already available on a New York cable channel, MetroArts/Thirteen, and Freedom Forum is finalizing plans for its distribution outside New York.

Media Coalition Release Shooting the Messenger on Media Violence

In July, four prominent public health groups declared that violence in the media is an important cause of violence in American society. The conclusion of the public health community, based on over 30 years of research, is that viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values and behaviors, especially in children, according to the statement by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

Similar statements are fueling demands in Congress and the state legislatures for restrictions on violent media content. But does social science really support the calls for government legislation? ABFFE and the other members of the Media Coalition, a trade association that represents producers and distributors of books, magazines, movies, videos and video games, have just released a pamphlet that challenges the conventional wisdom about the relationship between the media and violence, "Shooting the Messenger: Why Censorship Won’t Stop Violence." 

Contrary to the claims of politicians and pundits, the experts do not agree on the ‘obvious fact’ that violence content in media causes real life violence. You can order a free copy of "Shooting the Messenger" through the ABFFE online store.