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press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances."
Kids Fight Book Banning Through kidSPEAK
Several organizations have sprung up in response to concerns

about censorship of children's books. When the Harry Potter books came
under attack, a number of organizations joined together to establish
Muggles for Harry Potter, which is now known as kidSPEAK and

focuses on being a voice for kids in fighting censorship in
general. KidSPEAK stresses, "Kids have First Amendment rights—and
kidSPEAK helps kids fight for them!"

Parents Against Bad Books in Schools
PABBIS (Parents Against Bad Books in Schools), is just one of a
number of parent groups around the country challenging children's and
young adult books in classroom teaching, and in school and public

libraries. These parents go beyond wanting to restrict access to certain
books for their own children; they seek to restrict access for other
parents' children as well by getting one or more books removed from the

library shelves or having access to the books restricted in some way.
What Do You Think?
It is appropriate for parents to guide their children’s reading,

television viewing, and exposure to media as they see fit. The public
library can assist in this process by providing reader’s advisory services,
booklists, and other related services in a positive, pro-active manner.
What they library should not do is act in loco parentis — in the place of

the parents — either by limiting access to materials or services solely on
the basis of the user’s age or by attempting to enforce parentally dictated
controls.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. Why do many people think that challenges, book censorship and
book banning are things that happened in the distant past?

2. Why do people want to ban books?
3. What are four motivating factors of banning books?
4. Does the age level for which a book is intended guarantee that

someone won't try to censor it? Why?
5. Who makes the most complaints to public libraries and schools?
6. What does the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution state?

7. What does the abbreviation PABBIS mean?