Banned Books

 

Join the Library, Museums & Press and the English Department as we celebrate the freedom to read in 2023. Below is a list of our scheduled events for the week. Stop by to find out more about each day's topic, enter a raffle to win a banned/challenged book, and pick up fun giveaways like stickers, bookmarks, pins, and more!

 

Banned Books Week Programming

 

Monday, 10/2 from 11am-2pm @ Library Entrance:

Table event on historical book bans/history of censorship legislation

 

Tuesday, 10/3 from 11am-2pm @ Library Entrance:

Table event on censorship of LGBTQ+ materials

 

Wednesday, 10/4 from 12:30-4pm @ South Green (Rain location: Class of 1941 Lecture Room):

11th Annual Banned Books Read-Out

If you'd like to sign up to read at the Read-Out, please use this form!

 

Thursday, 10/5 from 11am-2pm @ Library Entrance:

Table event on banned/challenged young adult/children's books

 

Friday, 10/6 from 11am-2pm @ Library Entrance:

Table event on censorship/book bans in public libraries

 

Join the Conversation on Social Media: #UDReadsBannedBooks

 

 

What is Banned Books Week? (From ALA's Banned Books Week 2023 overview)

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

The theme for Banned Books Week 2023 is "Let Freedom Read." 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 is the difference between a challenge or banning? (from ALA's Banned Book FAQ)

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.  Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

 

Why are books challenged? (from ALA's Banned Book FAQ)

Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information. 

Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty: "If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:

1. the material was considered to be "sexually explicit"
2. the material contained "offensive language"
3. the materials was "unsuited to any age group"

Although this is a commendable motivation, Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors, an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (ALA's basic policy concerning access to information) states that, “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.” Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.

As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in Texas v. Johnson, said most eloquently: "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky: "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

Or these words of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, in The One Un-American Act: "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."

Check out UD's Libby Banned Books Collection! Available through October 2023, all of these ebooks and audiobooks can be borrowed through the Libby app. Note that the collection is only available for affiliated users.

Selected Testimonials about Impactful Banned Books from Members of the UD Community

 

"This book was, and still is, a huge part of my life. My parents read it to me when I was little and I read it myself, among other books, when learning to read. I absolutely love the illustrations, and the silly story overall. I was surprised to find out that this book has been challenged, and for the strangest reasons. If I ever have kids, they're going to be familiar with this book. It's just such a classic, as is any Maurice Sendak book."

--J. O. on In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

"This book was banned from my very small rural town high school's reading list. It caused an uproar among parents of young LGBTQ+ students in my area and was one of the greatest displays of support I'd ever seen. This made me realize how important representation is in literature."

--S. C. on The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

"It talks heavily on on the mistreatment of women in a dystopia. As a feminist myself, the way women are treated in this book angers me and the fact that it was a banned novel does as well."

--D. S. on The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

"I've had people that are close to me go through mental hardships and when I read this book in middle school I could relate to some of the things they talked about."

--K. on 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

"I personally relate to so many themes of this book like Racism and bullying and hence it is very relatable to me as I am a brown girl studying in the united states of america which is mostly white population so I completely understand what Junior is going through in the book."

--V. M. on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

"This book instilled in me a love for dystopian novels, and by far the best one in my opinion!"

--M. M. on Brave New World by Aldous Huxley