This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry.(September 2022) |
Banned Books Week | |
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Significance | Celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. |
Frequency | annual |
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, [1] draws attention to banned and challenged books, [2] and highlights persecuted individuals. Held during the last full week of September since 1982, the United States campaign "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them" [3] and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." [4] Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival. [5] [6]
Banned Books Week was founded in 1982 by First Amendment and library activist Judith Krug. [7] Krug said that the Association of American Publishers contacted her with ideas to bring banned books "to the attention of the American public" after a "slew of books" had been banned that year. Krug relayed the information to the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee, and "six weeks later we celebrated the first Banned Books Week." [8]
Since 2011, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has designated the Wednesday of Banned Books Week as Banned Websites Awareness Day. [9] Their goal is "to bring attention to the overly aggressive filtering of educational and social websites used by students and educators." [10] In the AASL's 2012 national longitudinal survey, 94% of respondents said their school used filtering software, with the majority of blocked websites relating to social networking (88%), IM or online chatting (74%), gaming (69%), and video services like YouTube (66%). [11] The AASL's position is that "the social aspect of learning" is important for students in the 21st century and that many schools go "beyond the requirements set forth by the Federal Communications Commission in its Child Internet Protection Act." [11]
For the 2022 event, student activist Cameron Samuels was named the first Youth Honorary Chair for distributing banned books in the Katy Independent School District in Texas. In April 2022, PEN America released a report titled "Banned in the USA" revealing an increase in book banning in the United States since 2021. Student activism against book banning also increased.
The event has been held during the last full week of September since 1982. [12] Banned Books Week is intended to encourage readers to examine challenged literary works and to promote intellectual freedom in libraries, schools, and bookstores. Its goal is "to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society." [13] Offering Banned Books Week kits, the ALA sells posters, buttons, and bookmarks to celebrate the event.
Educational facilities celebrate banned and challenged books during this week, often creating displays and programs around the awareness campaign. Additionally, booksellers sponsor activities and events in support of Banned Books Week. Some retailers create window displays, while others invite authors of banned and challenged materials to speak at their stores, as well as funding annual essay contests about freedom of expression. Educational facilities and booksellers also sponsor "read outs," allowing participants to read aloud passages from their favorite banned books. [14]
Amnesty International celebrates Banned Books Week by directing attention to individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." [4] [15] Its web site documents "focus cases" annually which show individuals who have been reportedly killed, incarcerated, or otherwise harassed by national authorities around the world, and urge people to "take action" to help it in partnership with its "Urgent Action Network" by contacting authorities regarding human rights violations. [16] They also provide updates to cases from previous years, giving a history and current status of people who have been allegedly persecuted for their writings. The cases include individuals from Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Myanmar, Russia, and Sri Lanka. [15]
The event has been praised for celebrating the freedom provided by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. [17] Public events where banned and challenged books are read aloud are commonly held to celebrate the event. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] The international event held by Amnesty International has also been praised for reminding people about the price that some people pay for expressing controversial views. [23]
Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby observed that the overwhelming number of books on the list were books that were simply challenged (primarily by parents for violence, language, sexuality, or age-appropriateness), not actually removed. [24]
Mitchell Muncy, writing in The Wall Street Journal , says that the censorship being protested in the event does not exist, and that books are not banned in the United States. [25] Camila Alire, a former president of the ALA, responded that Banned Books Week highlights "the hundreds of documented attempts to suppress access to information that take place each year across the U.S.," and that "when the library is asked to restrict access for others, that does indeed reflect an attempt at censorship." [26]
Former ALA Councilor Jessamyn West said:
It also highlights the thing we know about Banned Books Week that we don't talk about much—the bulk of these books are challenged by parents for being age-inappropriate for children. While I think this is still a formidable thing for librarians to deal with, it's totally different from people trying to block a book from being sold at all. [27]
Doug Archer, librarian and past chair of the ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee, responds that such criticisms do not fairly address the threat of censorship:
The argument goes thusly. Most books on the annual ALA list of banned and challenged books were "only" challenged, never banned. Even if some were removed from libraries, they are still available for purchase in bookstores. Therefore, censorship hasn't really happened because the government hasn't banned the books. .... Just because libraries and librarians have been so good at defending the freedom of the public to read as they choose, means that we're being dishonest? No, it just means we're doing our job. [28]
Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization, regularly challenges Banned Books Week, claiming that books are not really banned, and that libraries' policies are anti-family. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy, said, "The ALA has irresponsibly perpetrated the 'banned' books lie for too long...Nothing is 'banned,' but every year this organization attempts to intimidate and silence any parent, teacher or librarian who expresses concern about the age-appropriateness of sexually explicit or violent material for schoolchildren." [35] Candi Cushman, Focus on the Family's education analyst, said that "parents have every right and responsibility to object to their kids receiving sexually explicit and pro-gay literature without their permission, especially in a school setting"; [36] pointing out that the children's book And Tango Makes Three , about same-sex penguin parents, was one of the books at the top of ALA's most-challenged list, she criticized the event for its "promotion of homosexuality to...6- or 7-year-old [children] against their will." [37] The group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) has similarly criticized the ALA for not using the event to champion ex-gay books or books opposing same-sex marriage in the United States. [38] [39]
Banned Books Week was criticized by Ruth Graham in Slate , who argued that the rhetoric surrounding the event often conflates issues such as banning books in a public library versus a school library. [40] She wrote that it confuses failure to include material in curricula to overall availability in a library. [40] She believes that, while it may be worthwhile to highlight cases of censorship, the emphasis should be on a celebration of the minimal number of banned books. [40]
In response, Maddie Crum of The Huffington Post wrote in defense of Banned Books Week, saying that the celebration of Banned Books Week raises consciousness of the importance of free expression in society. She praised librarians' role, writing that "They do the behind-the-scenes work that ensures challenges don't turn into bans." [41]
Judith Blume is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973), and Blubber (1974). Blume's books have significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature.
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members as of 2021.
Chris Crutcher is an American novelist and a family therapist. He received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2000 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Judith Fingeret Krug was an American librarian, freedom of speech proponent, and critic of censorship. Krug became director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association in 1967. In 1969, she joined the Freedom to Read Foundation as its executive director. Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.
And Tango Makes Three is a children's book written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole which was published in 2005. The book tells the story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who create a family together. With the help of the zookeeper, Mr. Gramsay, Roy and Silo are given an egg which they help hatch. The female chick, that completes their family, is consequently named "Tango" by the zookeepers. The book was based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins who formed a pair bond in New York's Central Park Zoo.
The Library Bill of Rights is the American Library Association's statement expressing the rights of library users to intellectual freedom and the expectations the association places on libraries to support those rights. The Association's Council has adopted a number of interpretations of the document applying it to various library policies.
Eli Martin Oboler was an American librarian who worked as the longtime librarian at the Idaho State University library, later renamed the Eli M. Oboler Library, from 1949 to 1980. He was also a member of the Idaho Library Association and the Pacific Northwest Library Association, and served as president for both organizations. Oboler was a noted defender of intellectual freedom and an anti-censorship activist.
Forrest Brisbin Spaulding was an American librarian. He was named in the American Libraries article, "100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century" for his contribution to intellectual freedom in writing the Library Bill of Rights. He was a humanitarian who is remembered not only for his contributions to librarianship, but also for the positive influence he had on the communities in which he lived and worked. In a commentary on the play The Not So Quiet Librarian, by Cynthia Mercati, Humanities Iowa writes that "Spaulding's words and his life touched everyone who loved not just books but freedom of expression." While Forrest Spaulding is remembered for his contributions to librarianship, he began his career as a reporter. The State Library of Iowa biography mentions that while he spent some time as director of Peru's libraries and museums in 1920, "he was also a correspondent for the Associated Press. He is noted as saying that his 'efforts to report the news from that country gave him a bitter object lesson in censorship.'"
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is a division of the American Library Association (ALA) that has more than 7,000 members and serves primary school and secondary school librarians in the U.S., Canada, and even internationally. Prior to being established in 1951, school librarians were served by the School Library Section of ALA founded in 1914, which emerged from the Roundtable of Normal and High School Librarians. The mission of the American Association of School Librarians is to empower leaders to transform teaching and learning.
Zoia Markovna Horn, born in Ukraine, became in 1972 the first United States librarian to be jailed for refusing to share information as a matter of conscience. Horn, an outspoken member of the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee, worked at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania in the early 1970s. Horn was jailed for nearly three weeks for contempt of court after refusing to testify for the prosecution in the 1972 conspiracy trial of the "Harrisburg Seven" anti-war activists.
Alexander Peter Allain was a lawyer and library advocate known for his work securing the freedom of expression. His career was devoted to securing First Amendment rights for libraries.
William Shepherd Dix was a scholar and librarian who had a 22-year career as Librarian at Princeton University in New Jersey, without a degree in library science. His contributions to the field of librarianship, however, are varied and notable, making him worthy of recognition in the American Libraries' 100 most important figures.
Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.
Librarianship and human rights in the U.S. are linked by the philosophy and practice of library and information professionals supporting the rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), particularly the established rights to information, knowledge and free expression.
Book censorship is the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material – of images, ideas, and information – on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable according to the standards applied by the censor. Censorship is "the regulation of speech and other forms of expression by an entrenched authority". The overall intent of censorship, in any form, is to act as "a kind of safeguard for society, typically to protect norms and values [...] censorship suppresses what is considered objectionable from a political, moral, or religious standpoint."
Book censorship is the act of some authority taking measures to suppress ideas and information within a book. Censorship is "the regulation of free speech and other forms of entrenched authority". Censors typically identify as either a concerned parent, community members who react to a text without reading, or local or national organizations. Marshall University Library defines a banned book as one that is "removed from a library, classroom etc." and a challenged book as one that is "requested to be removed from a library, classroom etc." Books can be censored by burning, shelf removal, school censorship, and banning books. Books are most often censored for age appropriateness, offensive language, sexual content, amongst other reasons. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books, such as the historical example of the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum and bans of such books as Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses by Ayatollah Khomeini, which do not always carry legal force. Censorship can be enacted at the national or subnational level as well, and can carry legal penalties. Books may also be challenged at a local community level, although successful bans do not extend outside that area.
The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) is an American non-profit anti-censorship organization, established in 1969 by the American Library Association. The organization has been active in First Amendment-based challenges to book removals from libraries, and in anti-surveillance work. In addition to its legal work, the FTRF engages in advocacy and public awareness, such as its sponsorship of the annual celebration of "Banned Books Week".
All American Boys, published in 2015 by Atheneum, is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. The book tells the story of two teenage boys, Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins, as they handle racism and police brutality in their community. The novel has gained attention in recent years, becoming the third most banned book of 2020, due to its inclusion of anti-police messages, alcohol, drug usage, and profanity.
Susan Kuklin is an American photographer and award-winning writer.