National Banned Book Week, a time for readers all across the country to speak out against censorship and the banning of books in America, is running from Sept. 22 through 28 this year. Begun in 1982 by Judith Krug, a librarian and former director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association (ALA), this year marks the 42nd anniversary of the event.
The ALA organizes banned books read-outs in public libraries across the country and provides resources for anyone looking to combat censorship; they also track instances of a given book being challenged or banned. But because many contests are unreported, and parameters for banning vary across counties and school districts, tracking all banned books is extremely difficult. This year, the number of challenged books that the ALA tracked is a record breaker: 4,240 unique and new titles were recorded, an increase of 65 percent from 2022 (which had 2,571 titles). Of these challenges, 54 percent took place in public libraries and 39 percent in school libraries. Most complaints were filed by patrons (28 percent), followed by parents (24 percent) and pressure groups (21 percent ).
Bucknell University has participated in Banned Book Week for many years. Even during COVID, when engagements were held remotely, a Zoom meeting was held to discuss James Joyce’s infamous and oft-banned novel Ulysses. This year, Bucknell’s Library and Information Technology department partnered with the English department and Downtown Lewisburg book store Mondragon Books to organize a series of events all aimed at raising awareness about the banning of books around the country. The events began on Monday, Sept. 23, with an on-campus read-out of banned and challenged books, followed by a game of themed “Jeopardy” covering the same topic on Tuesday. Jason Snyder, Librarian and Communications and Outreach Coordinator for Bertrand Library, attended both events. He recalled multiple passages from children’s books and novels being read, as well as a passage from the Bible— a book that many forget has been challenged numerous times in the US for varying reasons.
On Wednesday, Judy Blume’s documentary “Judy Blume Forever” was shown, reflecting on her tenure as an author whose works have frequently been challenged in libraries and schools. Finally, on Thursday, there was a read-out in Mondragon books, where members of the Lewisburg and Bucknell community came together to read passages of their favorite banned books aloud.
Snyder hopes that Bucknell’s support of banned books week will “promote access to all kinds of books for all kinds of people, in all types of libraries.” He shares his thanks to Katherine Furlong and Sam Keller of the Library department, Elena Machado and Chase Gregory of the English department and Sarajane Snyder of Mondragon Books, for their collaboration in organizing this event on- and off-campus. All involved share Snyder’s passion for raising awareness for challenged books.
Bucknell hopes, through supporting banned books week, that more institutions will follow suit— especially elementary, middle and high schools, as these are the ones most commonly affected by the banning of books.
Further information on how you can get involved with the fight against banning books may be found on the American Library Association’s website.
