LEWISTON – Members of Bates College’s award-winning Brooks Quimby Debate Council will present a public discussion about censorship and First Amendment rights at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Part of the Big Read L-A program sponsored by the Lewiston and Auburn public libraries, the event is open to the public free of charge.

Six Bates debaters will argue the question, “Should communities have the right to ban books from school libraries?” using literary examples ranging from the recent Harry Potter series to the Ray Bradbury classic “Fahrenheit 451.”

The Bates College debate team ranks fourth in the United States, according to the compiled results of all U.S. collegiate debate teams that competed in the 2008 World Universities Debating Championships, held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Big Read is a nationwide initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, designed to restore reading to the center of U.S. culture by encouraging citizens to read, discuss and celebrate a single book within their communities through a series of special events.

“Fahrenheit 451” is the focus of Lewiston-Auburn’s 2008 Big Read L-A program. The 1953 novel tells of a futuristic society in which books are seen as a threat by the government. Free copies of the book are available at the circulation desks of both libraries while quantities last.