Banned Books Week began thanks to the efforts of librarian Judith Fingeret Krug, who led the battle against government censorship of books housed in libraries.
Born March 15, 1940, in Pittsburgh, Pa, she was working as a librarian In 1982 when she founded Banned Books Week, an annual event that promotes public readings of condemned books. Championing a number of First Amendment freedoms, she decried Internet censorship in libraries, backed the eradication of an indecency provision of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and challenged a provision in the USA Patriot Act that allowed federal investigators to examine the library records of patrons.
For her commitment to the values of free expression, Krug won the 2009 William J. Brennan, Jr., Award.
