Reading is forbidden

 Reading is forbidden! Only prohibited books are kept in this library.

Port Knox: The only books kept in a small library on an American island are those that have been declared undesirable and forbidden.

The Matinix Island Library is located on an island called Matinicus, 35 km offshore in Port Knox, Maine, with a population of less than 100. This small library is open 24 hours a day and aims to collect only books that have been temporarily or permanently banned in the United States.

These books include "End Tango Max 3", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Handmade Tale" and "The Grips and Wrath".

The library was started by the personal efforts of a few local volunteers, with the aim of teaching Americans patience, forbearance and endurance so that they can read and learn about materials (especially books) that are banned by the US government. I can form an opinion with complete freedom. The library is currently housed in a wooden hut-like building built by the volunteers at their own expense. According to the American website 'Banger Daily News', the administrators of this library are also ready to buy or donate prohibited books from various people and libraries.

"If you don't want to see any (prohibited) books in your library, sell them to us," a volunteer from the Mattex Island Library told the website's correspondent.

The library was started in 2016, but the idea of ​​having banned books came to some of the islanders in 2020, which they started putting into practice. Last year, the section on banned books was separated from the Central Library and given the status of a separate library.