Maria's Bookshop will celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week 2015, which will be held from Sept. 27 through Oct. 3. The community is invited to participate in a Read-Out.

In 2015, there were 311 challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries around the country reported to the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, and many others go unreported. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities.

Banned Books Week will feature a Read-Out of banned and challenged books this year. Maria's Bookshop invites community members to participate in the Read-Out, open to participation each day during banned books week. Readings will take place outside the front entrance of the bookshop; Maria's Bookshop will have numerous books to select from for readings, each approximately five to ten minutes. Participants are invited to reserve a time slot by signing up at the front desk; otherwise volunteers will be welcome on a first-to-arrive, first-to-read opportunity.

The top 10 most frequently challenged books of last year are listed at http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/about

In 2015, Banned Books Week focuses attention on Young Adult titles; every year Young Adult books dominate the list of titles most frequently challenged this year six of the top 10 are Young Adult books. Most often, people challenge books because they find them to be too violent or too sexual. They object to profanity, negative portrayals of certain religious or ethnic groups, or they object to positive portrayals of homosexuals.

"We hope you'll stop in and see our Banned Books Week window display, featuring some books you might never have guessed would appear there," said a Maria's employee. "Browse our shelves to locate the bright orange Banned Books Week bookmarks in titles that have been challenged in the past and learn more about why people have objected to them. Most importantly, we hope you will continue to join us in working to protect our freedom to read, not just this week, but all year round!"

For more information about Banned Book Week, visit The American Booksellers for Freedom of Expression at http://www.bookweb.org/abfe/banned-books-week, or The American Library Association at http://www.ala.org/bbooks/