Celebrate Banned Books Week!

“Don’t let censors take books out of our hands! Celebrate free expression during Banned Books Week (September 22 – 28, 2019). The theme of this year’s event proclaims “Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark,” urging everyone to “Keep the Light On.”

Banned Books Week is the most important opportunity during the year for advocates — publishers, booksellers, librarians, educators, journalists, and readers — to explain why we must defend everyone’s right to choose what they want to read and view.

Banned Books Week has been shining a light on censorship since it was founded in 1982, and the fight for free expression is as urgent as ever. In recent years, the attacks on the right to read have become bolder, as legislatures have introduced bills that would eliminate crucial safeguards for the right to read books that some people find offensive.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom released their list of the Top 11 Most Challenged Books of 2018. In 2018, ALA tracked nearly 350 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services, as well as 483 books that were challenged or banned. ALA normally lists 10 challenged books, but for this year’s list, the last two books were tied and both were publicly burned because they contained LGBTQIA+ content. In fact, six of the books on the list were attacked for this reason, including Alex Gino’s George, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and EG Keller, Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, Drama by Raina Telgemeier, This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman and Kristyna Litten, and Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan.

“Almost half of the books on the Top 11 this year (including This Day in June) were banned or challenged because they contained LGBTQ+ content,” says challenged author Gayle Pitman. “That is incredibly disturbing to me. Whether it involves removing a book from a shelf or burning a book in a trash can, all of these are attempts to erase, silence, and destroy our communities. This is an opportunity for all of us to stand up for the freedom to read, as well as for the right to see ourselves reflected in books and for our communities to exist without oppression.”

Bestselling author Judy Blume (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Forever), member of the National Coalition Against Censorship’s board of directors and a long-time target of censors, affirms the importance of Banned Books Week.”It’s a chance for all of us to celebrate the books we love and to make sure we continue to work to protect our intellectual freedom.”

Help the Banned Books Week Coalition keep the light on during Banned Books Week, September 22 – 28, 2019! Visit bannedbooksweek.org or follow then on Twitter to get the latest Banned Books Week and censorship news.

 Learn more about the Top 11 Challenged Books of 2018 at ala.org/bbooks/top and the challenges facing America’s libraries at ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2019"

Check out the Library's FB page for daily Banned Books updates!

(source: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund)