BANNED BOOK WEEK PROCLAMATION – CITY OF NORTH PLAINS

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and 

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS, some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label views as “controversial,” to distribute lists of books or authors considered “objectionable,” and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Let Freedom Read is observed the first week of October 2023 as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, Mayor Teri Lenahan of the City of North Plains, Oregon does hereby proclaim October 1-7, 2023, as BANNED BOOKS WEEK in the City of North Plains and I further RESOLVE to encourage free people to read freely, now and forever.

Dated this 2nd day of October 2023
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Teri Lenahan, Mayor