Banned Books Week - What's It All About?
DescriptionAn article highlighting Banned Books Week and the mission behind it.
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American Library AssociationThis year, Banned Book Week was from October 1st to the 7th—an annual event that started in 1982 in response to the rise in book challenges in various places where books are housed. It aims to bring awareness to the harms of censorship and protect intellectual freedoms. This past month, the Monomoy Regional High School library has been celebrating Banned Book Week with a display of the ten most challenged books, which happen to be available all year. But why, if these books are banned, are they still available to read?
PEN America, an organization that aims to protect free expression in literature, defines a book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished”—in other words, if a book is removed from a library or made harder to obtain through challenges from groups of people, it is "banned." In 2022, it is estimated that more than 2,570 different books were challenged; but book bans have been around in America since before it was its own country, with religion being the main force behind censorship in the colonies.
Later, books like Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe would earn the ire of southern slave and plantation owners because of its anti-slavery rhetoric, ultimately leading to its censorship in the Southern United States, often with copies being burned and people being imprisoned for possessing the title. Despite its national "bestseller" status in the mid-nineteenth century, it was still highly contested in certain regions of the country. As time progressed, many titles were challenged on grounds of "obscenity" and "immorality"—especially in Boston, which became so notorious for it, that authors intentionally published works in the city hoping that the potential ban would provide traction in other areas of the country. The phrase "Banned in Boston" was coined as an allusion to the high rates of books banned in our capital during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Despite our new-found ability to legally send contested books in the mail, book challenges are still very much around today, with modern arguments mainly surrounding school libraries and the content that children should be allowed to access via education. The major groups behind these censorship efforts are, according to PEN America, Moms For Liberty (a group concerned with parental rights in government and schools) and No Left Turn In Education (I feel like that’s pretty self-explanatory). Both groups are mainly concerned with the "indoctrination" of children—into what? I’m not entirely sure. But they definitely are persistent.
Regardless of political agenda, book bannings are a form of suppression—specifically of intellectual property, especially those dealing with "taboo" topics, such as race, gender, sexuality, and sex education. Reading about these topics fosters empathy and understanding, two somewhat important traits of being a generally good human being. Exercise your rights: be cool, and read a banned book.
PEN America, an organization that aims to protect free expression in literature, defines a book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished”—in other words, if a book is removed from a library or made harder to obtain through challenges from groups of people, it is "banned." In 2022, it is estimated that more than 2,570 different books were challenged; but book bans have been around in America since before it was its own country, with religion being the main force behind censorship in the colonies.
Later, books like Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe would earn the ire of southern slave and plantation owners because of its anti-slavery rhetoric, ultimately leading to its censorship in the Southern United States, often with copies being burned and people being imprisoned for possessing the title. Despite its national "bestseller" status in the mid-nineteenth century, it was still highly contested in certain regions of the country. As time progressed, many titles were challenged on grounds of "obscenity" and "immorality"—especially in Boston, which became so notorious for it, that authors intentionally published works in the city hoping that the potential ban would provide traction in other areas of the country. The phrase "Banned in Boston" was coined as an allusion to the high rates of books banned in our capital during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Despite our new-found ability to legally send contested books in the mail, book challenges are still very much around today, with modern arguments mainly surrounding school libraries and the content that children should be allowed to access via education. The major groups behind these censorship efforts are, according to PEN America, Moms For Liberty (a group concerned with parental rights in government and schools) and No Left Turn In Education (I feel like that’s pretty self-explanatory). Both groups are mainly concerned with the "indoctrination" of children—into what? I’m not entirely sure. But they definitely are persistent.
Regardless of political agenda, book bannings are a form of suppression—specifically of intellectual property, especially those dealing with "taboo" topics, such as race, gender, sexuality, and sex education. Reading about these topics fosters empathy and understanding, two somewhat important traits of being a generally good human being. Exercise your rights: be cool, and read a banned book.
