LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Books unite us - censorship divides us. That's the focus in public libraries across the nation.
This week marks the American Library Association's annual Banned Books Week. The Lima Public Library is participating with a display of books. The library's executive director says he has not had a challenge of a book in the 11 years that he has been at the library. Nationally the American Library Association says there has been a rise in book challenges mostly on the school level. A recent poll by the association showed 67% opposed efforts to remove books from schools and 71% polled opposed efforts to remove books from public libraries.
"The library's stance is pretty simple. We do believe in the freedom to read so you're free to sensor yourself. If you don't like it, don't check it out. Return it if you did check it out. But you're not free to try and prevent others from reading or have access to information or material and it is that simple for us," stated Gary Fraser, executive director of Lima Public Library.
Fraser says there is something to fit everyone's taste as there are more than 180,000 items that can be checked out of the library and more than a million electronically.
