In celebration of Banned Books Week, Patchogue-Medford Library is holding a read-out in front of their 54-60 E. Main St. location.
Community members took the podium Wednesday afternoon to read excerpts from a number of stories that were banned at some point in history. During the ceremony, Gary Lutz from the library would introduce community members along with what exactly caused the banning of the story.
In the case of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, which was read by this editor, the story was banned in Layton, California in 1989 from a public school due to concerns it was criminalizing the foresting industry.
Also read was Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, which according to Huffington Post was banned in the People's Republic of China because of its 'portrayal of early Marxism' from 1965 until the author's death in 1991.
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, also read the event was reportedly banned for setting a bad example for children by encouraging them to spy, lie and swear, according to Christian Science Monitor.
The read-out began at noon and will be running throughout the afternoon.
Lutz told Patch that a video of the event will be posted soon to the library's Youtube account.
What are your favorite banned books? Let us know in the comments section below. Also, click-through the media gallery for photo highlights from the first hour of the ceremony, as well as a photo of the audience this editor took just before reading his selection. The reasoning for the photo, because the attempts to ban literature were to spot it from spreading, yet here are residents making sure to spread it to the public.
Updated at 5:02 p.m. with additional event details.
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