J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books has been the target of many censorship attempts and protests. The Harry Potter books were number seven on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000.

Timeline of events

60 Australian Seventh-Day Adventist schools banned the books from classrooms in 2001.

The Christ Community Church burned a pile of Harry Potter books in Alamogordo, New Mexico on December 31, 2001.

Private schools in the United Arab Emirates removed the books in February, 2002, because the government said the story was contrary to Islamic values.

On September 7, 2002 a group of policemen in Penryn, Pennsylvania refused to direct traffic at a YMCA triathlon because the YMCA used the Harry Potter books in a reading program.

The Rev. Douglas Taylor, denied a city burning permit, held a book-chopping party for 30 at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston, Maine in November, 2002.

Maranatha Christian College, near Melbourne, Australia, removed the books from their library in July, 2003.

The books were banned in an Cedarville, Arkansas school district, and were reinstated by U.S. District Court Judge Jimm L. Hendren in April, 2003.

In June, 2001, a library board in Oskaloosa, Kansas cancelled a performance program that involved reading from the Potter books which had been scheduled by the Library staff. (The books were not withdrawn from circulation.)

See also: book burning

External links

• kidSPEAK! - an anti-censorship website