Banned Books Week: How is the event being celebrated?

Banned Books Week is back, and libraries, schools and others around the country are celebrating with various events.

Banned Books Week, which is being celebrated from Sept. 21 to Sept. 27 this year, is sponsored by organizations including the American Library Association, the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and the National Coalition Against Censorship. The event is meant to honor the right of readers to pick up any book they choose.

The Virtual Read-Out, in which participants can upload a video of themselves reading a book that has been banned or discussing banned books in general, is coming back this year. Those who would like to participate can submit their videos here and they can be added to the Banned Books Week YouTube channel, which includes videos about Banned Books Week by “Captain Underpants” author Dav Pilkey and others.

Meanwhile, celebrations are happening all over the world. For those who want to include book fans who can’t read yet, the San Francisco location of Books Inc. is is hosting “Baby’s First Banned Book Club Meeting,” where books that have been banned will be selected for storytime. In Oxford, N.C., local artist Sylvanus Slaughter created the idea of a sculpture made out of banned books and electrical tape made to look like barbed wire. Other local artists, students, workers at Oxford’s Thornton Library, and Oxford residents who want to participate will be working on the art.

Other events include an “edible banned books festival” in Syracuse, N.Y., where those involved are asked to make an edible version of a banned book they select, and a “banned books pub quiz” in Anchorage, Ala., which is co-sponsored by the Anchorage Public Library and Anchorage’s Snow Goose Restaurant and Brewery and will test readers with questions about “censorship or issues of intellectual freedom.”

Check out the full list of events here to see what's happening in your area.