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Banned Books Week

Quote that reads: People don’t challenge materials that don’t say something to the reader. If you look over the materials that have been challenged and banned over the years, they are the materials that speak to the condition of the human being, that try to illuminate the issues and concerns that affect human beings. They’re books that say something, and they’re books that have meaning to the reader. Innocuous materials are never challenged. ~ Judith Krug, Inaugural Director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

 

Banned Books Week began in 1982 as there was a surge in book challenges in schools, libraries, and bookstores. Challenges and calls for book bans happen daily, but the number of challenges has escalated in recent years. Banned Books Week is meant to celebrate the freedom to read for everyone. Many of the books challenged or banned are stories that center people from marginalized groups. They tell the stories of Black people, queer people, Muslim people. They are the books that illustrate more diverse worlds and experiences that are not always happily ever after.

What is Censorship? 

Censorship is a form of control. It is typically associated with art, speech, communication, books, movies, and music. Throughout time, artists, authors, musicians have had labels stamped on their product because of concerns about its appropriateness. Some of the censored items have been labeled harmful, violent, sensitive, etc.

 

Quote that reads: Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment. ~Article 3, Library Bill of Rights

 

Have you heard of Soft Censorship?

Instead of directly banning a book, libraries will use a variety of strategies to make the book inaccessible, including:

  • moving books to a restricted section
  • excluding books from public displays
  • remove books from shelves for review for an extended period of time
  • coordinate to check out all of the books on a particular topic or theme and then delay or refuse to return items, e.g. check out all of the LGBTQIA+ books before Pride month
  • Weed books from the collection that are targeted by challenges
  • Create policies or laws that make it easy to challenge books with complicated, lengthy, and expensive review processes

If a book undergoes soft censorship then it doesn't count in the tally of reported book challenges or bans.

What is the difference between a book challenge and a book ban?

A challenge is a complaint or a concern raised about a book in the collection or on a teacher's reading list. Challenges are usually responded to by a teacher, librarian, or school administrator. Not all challenged books become a banned book.

A ban is the book's removal or restriction from a classroom, school or public library as a result of objections raised about the book's content.