Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. George by Alex Gino Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting "the values of our community" Censorship Divides Us." Public events include a Dear Banned Author Letter-Writing Campaign and Stand For The Banned Read-out, an opportunity for people to submit videos of themselves reading books from the list. The theme of this year's Banned Books Week is "Books Unite Us. "I think that we're seeing a response in many ways to some of the conversations, the challenges that we faced as a society since the murder of George Floyd last year," she says.
When the American Library Association released its list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2020 in April, the books that received the most challenges to libraries and schools dealt with "racism, Black American history and diversity in the United States," says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.Īnd Caldwell-Stone says in 20, the Banned Books list was made up "almost exclusively" of books dealing with LGBTQ concerns. These are some classics that pop into many minds when considering books that have been banned from home and school libraries over time.īut there's been a "notable shift" in the subject matter of books now being challenged in the U.S.
Maren Williams is a reference librarian who enjoys free speech and rescue dogs.The Catcher in the Rye. Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF! The Adams 12 school board may address the book controversy at its meeting next month, so stay tuned for updates! Morrison’s Beloved, also on the list at #26, was challenged earlier this year by a Fairfax County, Virginia, woman whose son had nightmares after reading part of it for AP English. The book has been challenged or banned numerous times over the years, making it the 15th most challenged book of the 2000s in U.S. I feel as though the situation was handled with sensitivity and consideration and did not take away from my learning experience.
I did not feel excluded from the lesson in any way. One student who actually did choose not to read the book for religious reasons, however, signed the counter-petition to keep it in classrooms, saying: Students who prefer not to read it have the option of completing an alternate assignment, but the parents who want it removed from classrooms say that’s not enough: One petition signatory called the book “trash literature,” while another claimed that “eading about this could promote the act instead of preventing it.” (“The act” presumably being rape, which most students have surely heard of sometime before taking AP English.) The Bluest Eye, which is used in advanced placement English classes in the Adams 12 Five Star School District, deals with difficult issues including rape and incest. In response, current and former students from the district also started their own petition to retain the books and protect the free expression of teachers and students. One of the most frequently challenged and banned books of the past decade is again under fire, as some parents in Adams County, Colorado, have launched an online petition asking their school district to remove Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and other unidentified books from high school reading lists. Graphic Novels: Suggestions for Librarians.Working With Libraries! A Handbook For Comics Creators.Know Your Rights: Student Rights Fact Sheet.Adding Graphic Novels to Your Library or Classroom Collection.