Banned Books Week is a campaign launched by the American Library Association in 1982 to draw attention to a rise in efforts to restrict access to information shared by libraries, bookstores, and schools. This past week from September 22nd to September 28th was Banned Books Week this year. It is usually celebrated in the last week of September each year to commemorate the effort of educators, librarians, and booksellers in the fight against censorship. But readers may be wondering, why do we commemorate fighting censorship and banned books? Why does it matter?
To simplify why banned books are celebrated would be to say that we celebrate banned books week to celebrate the fight for free information to all who want it. However, there are people and organizations dedicated to challenging, banning, and restricting access to books by banning them with legislation or book challenges. While it may seem noble to some, this sets a precedent that is dangerous to institutions that dedicate themselves to sharing books and to the readers who see themselves in the stories we share.
When we observe lists of the most banned books, we can see that these books have themes of belonging for people of color and people who are LGBTQIA+. Additionally, these books may discuss tough topics for people in those communities or for people outside of them who want to learn more about their fellow human beings. You can find the top ten most banned books of 2023 at this link here. As we can observe in the graph below, 2023 broke records for how many unique book titles were banned. This information is tracked by the Office of Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association.
Banning these stories without giving readers the freedom to decide what is appropriate to them takes away their agency to decide what to share and what they want to read. Therefore, librarians and others who are invested in accessible information celebrate banned books and the stories that shape who we are.
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We also carry some of these titles in the Oxford College Library. Check out a banned book!
Sources for further reading and reference:
Banned Books Week | Banned Books (ala.org)
American Library Association reports record number of unique book titles challenged in 2023 | ALA
Book Ban Data | Banned Books (ala.org)
American Library Association reports record number of unique book titles challenged in 2023 | ALA