Banned Books Week Celebrate the Freedom to Read

Banning books give us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.

Stephen Chbosky

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. According to the American Libraries Magazine supplement, 50 Years of Intellectual Freedom, Banned Books Week was founded in the 1980s.  Fortuitously on March 2nd, the Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case held that the first amendment limits the power of school officials to withdraw books from libraries simply because of their content.

Banned Books were featured at the 1982 American Booksellers Association trade show in Anaheim, California. At the entrance to the convention center, huge towering padlocked cages were filled with approximately 500 challenged books. Overhead, a large sign warned attendees that some people believed the caged books posed a threat.

Due to the success of the exhibit, Judith Krug Office for Intellectual Freedom director, was invited by the ALA to join the Banned Books Week initiative along with the National Association of College Stores.

When Judith Krug of the ALA, was asked about the censorship of books she responded

people give a lot of reasons for wanting to ban books, but most often the bannings are about fear.

They’re not afraid of the book; they’re afraid of the ideas.

The materials that are challenged and banned say something about the human condition.

Once the Banned Books Week initiative prospered, stores and institutions hosted “read-outs”. Read outs authorized individuals to read aloud excerpts from their favorite banned books. Shop windows housed literary graveyards and showcased brown-bagged books. When PBS and The New York Times documented the event, mayors and governors issued public statements affirming the week.

The American Library Association is part of a national coalition to promote Banned Books Week typically during the last week of September. Jointly, the coalition raises awareness of both the historical and current attempts to censor books in schools and libraries.

This year’s theme “ Books Unite Us Censorship Divides Us” adopts the concept that different types of stories can bind people together nonetheless, canceling narratives can alienate them.

While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week Celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

What is your opinion? Do you believe that books should be challenged and then banned? Are “trigger warnings” enough? Have you ever read a banned book? Is there a title or author on the ALA banned top 10 challenged book list that you would recommend? Share your insights in the comments section.