About the library > News Releases > 2006 > Banned books program celebrates freedom to read

Banned books program celebrates freedom to read

August 29, 2006

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PORTLAND, OR – The public is invited to hear readings by prominent citizens from and about banned books, and celebrate the freedom to read at Central Library's Café Banned, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2:30-4 p.m. in the U.S. Bank Room at Central Library, 801 S.W. 10th Ave., Portland. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Authors Jean Auel and Laila Lalami, journalist Margie Boulé, Multnomah County Library director Molly Raphael and Freedom to Read Foundation vice-president Candace Morgan, are just a few of the scheduled readers who will also lead small group discussions with audience members.

Café Banned is presented to commemorate Banned Books: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, which takes place Sept. 23-30, 2006. The annual event has been observed during the last week of September each year since 1982, and serves to remind Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

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.

For more information, go to www.multcolib.org/events/cafebanned.html.