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BEST-SELLING BANNED BOOKS AUTHORS AND CHICAGOANS READ ALOUD FROM FAVORITE BANNED BOOKS
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WHEN:
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Noon – 4 pm
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WHAT:
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Prominent Chicagoans, along with several nationally acclaimed authors,
will read passages from their favorite banned and "challenged" books
during a national Banned Books Read-Out! event on Saturday,
September 27 from Noon – 4 pm, at Pioneer Court, 401 N. Michigan Ave.
The event is free to the public, and sponsored by the American Library
Association (ALA), the McCormick Freedom Museum, and the Chicago
Tribune.
According to the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), on average
more than a book a day faces removal from free and open public access
in U.S. schools and libraries. During Banned Books Week, September
27–October 4, thousands of libraries and bookstores throughout the
nation will celebrate a democratic society’s most basic freedom—the
freedom to read.
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WHO:
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Local Chicago celebrities scheduled to appear include:
• Jim Rettig, President, ALA
• Judith Krug, director, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom
• Ilene Cooper, children’s book author
• Achy Obejas, author/journalist
• Dawn Turner Trice, journalist
• Mary Schmich, journalist
• Eric Zorn, journalist
• Matt Ryd, acoustic guitarist, will play censored music
• City Lit Theater Company
Banned/challenged authors scheduled to appear include:
• Judy Blume, Forever, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
• Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of being a Wallflower
• Ron Koertge, The Brimstone Journals
• Lois Lowry, The Giver
• Lauren Myracle, TTYL
• Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice series
• Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell, And Tango Makes Three
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
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This year marks the 27th anniversary of Banned Books Week. First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take their freedom to read for granted. The event is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores and is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
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CONTACT:
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For more information on the Banned Books Read-Out!, contact Abby Taylor at 312 222 3188 or ataylor@McCormickFoundation.org.
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