Attacks on books occupy a special place among the signposts of philistinism and anti-democratic suppression.
So it's proper to be alarmed at the upsurge of efforts to ban books from public schools and libraries, largely because they represent political views, lifestyles and life experiences that organized groups characterize as objectionable.
"It's not that book banning itself is new," says Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education at the free-speech group PEN America. "The biggest trend is the force and the coordination around the country. What's different is how school districts are giving in to these demands so quickly, in some cases without much due process whatsoever."
