Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (U.S. Const. amend. I).
What is censorship? It is the suppression of speech or written content, likely enacted by a community or group that deems the material inappropriate. In the context of this discussion, we will focus on the form of censorship that affects libraries the most: banned books.
To ban a book, one must first challenge it. After determining what they deem as “offensive,” the individual or group can fill out a form that will be presented in a case hearing. If the challenger gets that far, the book in question can end up in three different scenarios: retained, relocated, or removed.
The number of challenged titles increases per year. In 2023, 47% of the targeted titles represented LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC voices. The American Library Association’s President Emily Drabinski (2023-2024) said it perfectly when she stated: “Every challenge on a library book is an attack on our freedom to read. The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color. Our communities and our country are stronger because of diversity. Libraries that reflect their communities’ diversity promote learning and empathy that some people want to hide or eliminate.” The ALA has documented that 54% of censorship attempts took place in public libraries and 39% in school libraries in 2023. Majority of the initiators were patrons (28%) or parents (24%). Who are we to dictate the knowledge that people should have access to? Who are we to oppress diverse populations? Every person should have the freedom to learn, read, and relate to content.
Banned Books Week is a week of justice. It is a week where people across the country can make a point: these books serve a purpose; these books have an audience; these books should not be banned. Join us this Banned Books Week at our library branches to see our displays. If you’d like to know the top 10 banned books of 2023 with their reasons, click here.
Sources:
https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-i
https://www.britannica.com/topic/censorship
https://www.britannica.com/topic/book-banning
https://library.triton.edu/c.php?g=1073138&p=7814213
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/americas-first-banned-book
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