(Radio Iowa) – What’s billed as a celebration of the freedom to read, a Des Moines bookstore is hosting a Banned Books Festival this weekend. The event will feature readings by authors, panel discussions, and even a banned books trivia contest. Jan Danielson Kaiser, spokeswoman for Beaverdale Books, says there’s a real buzz over this topic and they decided to devote a full day to discussing and debating this hot-button topic. “We’ve had people who stopped into the store recently and they’re looking for titles for their book clubs to read,” she says, “and they specifically are looking for books that have been challenged or banned just so that they can speak more intelligently about maybe why they shouldn’t be banned.”

While it may be obvious from the covers why some books have raised controversy, Danielson Kaiser says it’s mystifying why other titles are being vilified, like “Charlotte’s Web.” “We’re featuring the authors of, ‘And Tango Makes Three,’ which is a delightful board book for kids,” she says. “It’s the story of two male penguins who are raising a chick and it’s based on a true story that happened in Central Park Zoo. It’s a beautifully illustrated little book.”

The festival will run from 10 A-M to 5 P-M on Saturday at the Franklin Events Center in Des Moines, and Danielson Kaiser says the store will have a wide selection of banned books available to browse and buy. She says one of the managers started making a list and was quickly overwhelmed. “He’s guessing we probably will have about 600 books for sale, now you know there’ll be duplicates,” she says, laughing, “but there’s going to be a lot of books there!”

Danielson Kaiser says she’s heard about one Iowa publisher who’s suggested he’d like to see one of the books he’s printed get banned, as the publicity almost guarantees a boost in sales. “The other funny thing is that when books are challenged, the schools oftentimes have to buy more copies just so that they can review, you know, they have a panel that reviews them, so that might help book sales that way as well.”

The daylong fest will feature a reading of banned poetry, story time for kids, a panel discussion on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and a chat with Ashley Hope Perez, author of “Out of Darkness.” The event is free.