By Kevin Lowe

It was a pleasure to burn, starts off Ray Bradburys landmark novel, Fahrenheit 451. What a hook.

It certainly worked on me, at any rate. Set in a near-future America, this 1953 novel paints a dreary picture of a country consumed with shallow media and skittish of ideas. A world where books are banned, firemen have become ironic caricatures and thought beyond only the most shallow musings is nearly unheard of.

When I read it, I was too young to be aware of any of that really. But I was old enough to know that the book had flamethrowers and eight-legged robot dogs, and that was enough for me. At the time, I didnt understand a lot of what was happening. I didnt understand why Guy Montag was so upset when confronted with an opposing idea, I didnt understand why a woman would go down in flames for her books, and by the end, I didnt understand why human beings would ever willingly trap themselves in cycles of violence, and whether or not knowledge and the imagination of the human spirit could free us from it.

I started asking questions. It might be a stretch to say that Fahrenheit 451 made me who I am, but I never forgot the lesson it taught me about the importance of ideas and expression. Censorship and restriction of freedom of speech are real threats, and often come in much subtler packages than book burnings these days. True, sometimes it comes in the form of shouting matches. Sometimes, rarely, they come in funny packages like the Scunthorpe Problem, wherein overzealous automated word filters change articles to read Abraham Lincoln was buttbuttinated, or other such nonsense. But most often, the war on books and freedom of speech happens behind the scenes at schools and libraries, as people try to remove them from the source.

This September, specifically Sept. 24-30, is bringing around one of my favorite times of year. I am, of course, talking about Banned Books Week. It seems weird to get so excited about what seems like such a dour time; it is after all, a yearly wake-up call toward the ever-present dangers of censorship. But I suppose I like to treat it as a time to count my blessings. After all, here in the United States, no books are truly banned, and our streets remain mercifully flamethrower free. I think thats why I get so excited about Banned Books Week. It often gives exposure to books with important ideas that might otherwise be buried. The fact that we get to see these books at all is in some ways something of a celebration.

After all, a victory for a banned book is a victory for everyone. As Charles Brownstein, chair of the Banned Books Week Coalition said, Our free society depends on the right to access, evaluate and voice a wide range of ideas. Book bans chill that right and increase division in the communities where they occur. This Banned Books Week, were asking people of all political persuasions to come together and celebrate Our Right to Read. Whether its Ayn Rands The Fountainhead or David Levithans Two Boys Kissing, its important we come together and appreciate we live in a place where each of us can find the books and ideas that are important to us, and each other.

Which isnt to say that were out of the woods yet. Censorship is a constant threat, if not outright bans. In fact, according to the American Library Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom, there was a 17 percent increase in challenges across public libraries, classrooms and school libraries last year, with a number of them being successful on the local level. Whats perhaps most tragic is that half of the top 10 banned books this year were selected due to LGBTQ themes and characters. Previous books that made the top 10 list include Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, E.L. James 50 Shades of Grey and the Bible.

We clearly still have a lot of work to do. Banned books week isnt until Sept. 24, but you can check out 2016s top 10 list of banned books at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/NLW-Top10 and start reading now. After all, their freedom to be read, is your freedom to read!

Kevin Lowe is alibrary assistantat the Suisun City Library.

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Freedom to read - Fairfield Daily Republic