Last week (September 25 - October 1) was Banned Books Week. It's a week that celebrates the freedom to read. It helps to to raise awareness about censorship of books in the United States. The American Library Association's (ALA) Banned & Challenged Books website educates on what a banned book is and what a challenged book is. The ALA even compiles a list of the Top Ten Challenged Books by Year and provides reasons for why each book was banned. The ALA has even created a list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009.

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I'm here to tell you that we shouldn't ban books.

I feel passionately about this subject because I am an English major and I love reading. Books have this incredible ability to pull me into the story and become attached to fictional people. Characters' struggles sometimes feel like my own, and when they are struggling with something I have, I somehow feel a little better.

I have read several of the books on the list of Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books, and many of them were in my English classes in high school and college. They are wonderful pieces of literature and should be read by high school and college aged students, despite some of their content. Censoring content that is uncomfortable to some silences conversations about everyday struggles in life. Censored books often deal with themes that are relevant to the intended audience, and I think they should be discussed, because a high school student struggling with bullying, or self esteem could benefit greatly from reading about a character who is going through the same thing.

Now, I know what you're going to say: "Well, we can't just let our children read books with explicit violence and language and adult content."

Well, of course not. I think books should be read by the intended audience, with careful discussion of the content and deciding whether or not a certain age group should read the book. To me, that is not censoring; it is making sure that the maturity level is appropriate for the content in the book.

So, I encourage you to read banned books. For me, they have been some of the most incredible stories I've ever read.