MONTICELLO, NY — Celebrate your freedom to read during Banned Books Week at the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library. Banned Books Week, which is always held during the last week of September, highlights the importance of free and open access to information, and celebrates the ability to choose to read any and all books.

The library will kick off Banned Books Week by having a Read-A-Thon on Friday, September 25 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the library front lawn. Anyone may sign up for a five-minute time slot to read aloud from a banned book. The library will have a selection of banned books to choose from, as well as a list of the top banned books. This is also a great opportunity to stock up on banned books (and any other books) to read while the library is closed during the move into the new building. For more information on the Read-A-Thon or to sign up for a time slot, call 845/794-4660, ext. 8.

Books can be banned from schools and libraries for a variety of reasons. Books that have been banned in some times and plcaes include “The Catcher in the Rye,” the Harry Potter series, “The Giving Tree,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and The Hunger Games trilogy. Visit www.ala.org/bbooks.