Banned Books Week 2023 is coming 1 october with the theme, “Let Freedom Read:” Celebrating the freedom to read and fighting against censorship.
Launched in 1982 when the number of challenged books skyrocketed, Banned Books Week (BBW) is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. It also draws attention to the dangers of censorship. This year, actor LeVar Burton, longtime children’s education and reading advocate, serves as honorary chair.
It’s important to note, according to the Banned + Challenged Books website:
While books have been and continue to be banned…in a majority of cases…books have remained available. …thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.
But what happens as the funnel narrows? As a growing number of people choose, or block, reading materials, films, plays? Where does it end if a narrow-minded and intolerant few get to dictate the learning, reading or entertainment consumption of the many?
Uptick and Changes
In the post-pandemic year, there has been an alarming increase in bans and challenges nationwide. This year alone, between 1 january and 31 august, the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) reported 695 attempts to censor library materials and services. It documented challenges to 1,915 unique titles. That’s a combined 20% increase over the same 2022 reporting period. And last year recorded the highest number of book challenges since ALA began compiling the data 20+ years ago.
The majority of challenges target themes centered on race, sexual orientation, gender and history, as evidenced in 2022’s list of the 13 most challenged books.
In school libraries, PEN America recorded “more book bans during the fall 2022 semester than in each of the prior two semesters. This school year also saw the effects of new state laws that censor ideas and materials in public schools, an extension of the book banning movement initiated in 2021 by local citizens and advocacy groups…” A vocal minority. Curious, as a 2022 poll found that over 70% of parents oppose book banning, and over 90% of parents have a favorable, trusted opinion of librarians who work in local school and public libraries.
Even more alarming, the challenges to books in public libraries is up 16% over last year. Banning books in a public library? No, no, no. I love my library and will continue to contribute what I can to make it better – more accessible and more equitable – for all who choose to use it.
Responsibility…Giveth and Taketh
From an article by the Child Mind Institute: According to Common Sense Media, 42% of kids have a phone by age 10. By age 12, it’s 71%. By 14, it’s 91%.
Given these startling (to me) numbers, what could be in a school or public library that children couldn’t access from their mobiles?
Shouldn’t parental responsibility figure into this? It's fine if you don’t want your child to read a particular book, but why deprive other children – who may be at different developmental levels, or may simply be more curious – of topics they find interesting and are permitted to read. Some parents have no problems sending their kids off to school for free babysitting (remember the parental screams at the height of the pandemic when remote schooling dragged on) – take my kids, please! But with the possibility of a child reading a title that is off limits – in the parents opinion – suddenly the school librarians and teachers are irresponsible, or even evil. That's a convenient, passive-aggressive relationship between some parents and the public school system.
Books Unite, Censorship Divides
When we ban books, we're closing off readers to people, places, and perspectives. But when we stand up for stories, we unleash the power that lies inside every book. We liberate the array of voices that need to be heard and the scenes that need to be seen. Let freedom read!
What Can You Do?
Lots! On Let Freedom Read Day, 7 october, even one small action can make a big difference.
And support your local library – and the freedom to read – keep your community learning!
The Banned Books Week Coalition includes American Booksellers for Free Expression, American Library Association, Amnesty International USA, Association of University Presses, Banned Books Week Sweden (a collaboration between Sweden PEN and the Dawit Isaak Library), Children’s Book Council, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Freedom to Read Foundation, Little Free Library, National Book Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN America, People for the American Way Foundation, and PFLAG National. Contributors include American Society of Journalists and Authors, Authors Guild, Index on Censorship, GLAAD, and Project Censored. Banned Books Week is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and receives generous support from HarperCollins and Penguin Random House.
Adapted banner design: © 2023 Janet Giampietro | Original art © BBW2023 | Stat graphics, Censorship by the Numbers available for download.
