Every year, towards the end of September and beginning of October there is a certain event that schools across the country take part in. It's called Banned Book Week! This event spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. Bringing together librarians, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types who are involved in the "book community."
So, why is this week so special?
Well Banned Books Week features books from every author and background that have been removed or restricted in any libraries or schools. The purpose of this week is really to draw national attention to the problem of censorship that causes the removal and restriction to books.
Background
Back in the 1980s there was a lot of book challenges, organized protests, and Supreme Court cases that covered the American news. The most memorable case was Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case, which ruled that school officials can not ban books from libraries (in schools or not) because of their content.
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| Judith Krug |
The first ever "Banned Book Week" was held in 1982 American Booksellers Association (ABA) trade show in Anaheim, California. The convention center had metal cages filled with nearly 500 challenged books stacked inside with padlocks and a sign reading that the books were dangerous for the public. This event proved to have major success in getting the general populations attention.
After proving how successful this exhibit was, the ABA invited Judith Krug and the National Association of College Stores to join what they had favorably named "Banned Books Week." They quickly put together showcases by September with the serious intention of continuing the conversation about banned books.
This tradition is still continued today, and the topic of banned books will forever be held so long as the event is held on its annual days. Banned Books Week now covers mainstream media and reaches at least 2.8 billion readers, and has 90,000 supporters online.
I always find this topic so interesting because it feels so dated. When we talk about banned books, I feel like we should be talking about something that happened in the 80's and stayed in the 80's. It's weird to see books we read three or four years ago banned today in schools. I hope that this tradition continues to shed light on banned books. There has to be a middle ground between protecting students and also teaching them important, cultural pieces of literature.
ReplyDeleteBanning books isn't actually dated though. There are books that still get banned today. Here is an article of books that have been banned in places recently https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/sep/surprising-books-that-have-been-recently-banned-2019/ . While Banned Books Week has brought awareness to the censorship, it has not stopped it. There are still parents and other adults who read or hear of a book and want to shield their children or all children or people from it. Additionally, while a Island Tree School District v Pico says that schools cannot ban books from their libraries, that does not mean they cannot remove them from their curriculum. There are still loopholes as I find in my research also about banned books. While it is difficult to imagine people banning books today, it still happens. A majority of websites I have found support reading banned books and I have found few that oppose it, yet there are still books getting banned. I find this topic especially interesting and love when I see websites with lists of banned books and a button next to them saying "buy the book".
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten about the Banned Books Week event until I read this post. I remember it being publicized enough to notice it, but my schools growing up didn't participate very much. That being said, I find it interesting that, growing up, I remember reading a lot of "banned" books in school. "The Catcher in the Rye," a banned book, is actually one of my very favorite books, and is one that I read as part of school curriculum. So I find it interesting that, in some cases, banning a book can bring it more publicity and a bigger following.
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