All but one of the above books has been banned or challenged. Do you know which one? Look at the list at the bottom of the page to figure out the answer.

The following is an open letter to the TRU community from Elizabeth Rennie, Instruction and Outreach Librarian at TRU.

Attention, Campus Reader:

During the Freedom to Read Week (February 24 – March 2, 2013), the TRU Library would like to create a display featuring members of the campus community, each reflecting on a banned or challenged book making an impact on their lives.

We’re hoping you’ll take a few minutes this semester to contribute your experiences to this project.

While academic libraries rarely face challenges, schools, bookstores, and public libraries are regularly asked to remove books and magazines from their shelves. Sometimes challenges are dismissed; in other instances they’re successful and a book is banned, or perhaps just quietly dropped from curricula.

Librarians, unsurprisingly, are against the censoring or banning of reading material. We feel Canadians should decide for themselves what they choose to read, and we encourage everyone to read a challenged book today.

See below for a list of banned and challenged books, compiled from a few different sources tracking such cases. If you’re interested in participating in this project, scan the list for a book you have already read, and found memorable for some reason.

Then, please let us know:

1. Your Name
2. Email address
3. Chosen Banned Book Title
4. A few sentences reflecting on why reading this book was significant to you

Send your responses to librarydisplay@tru.ca by December 14, 2012. Library staff will contact you in early January to set up a time to take a photo of you (and the library copy of your chosen banned book) to include with your reflections in the display. Questions? Contact Elizabeth Rennie, erennie@tru.ca

Thank-you for taking the time to contribute to our project, and we look forward to hearing how the freedom to read has been important to you.

On behalf of the Library Display Team,
Elizabeth

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The following list of banned or challenged books
was provided by the TRU Library

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