By banning a book, government officials or private individuals remove books from libraries, bookstores, or schools because they disagree with the ideas, themes, or content of them. These ideas and themes, however, are critical to our society, history, and learning. They teach us different perspectives on our own lives, as well as give us insight into the lives of others. Reading banned books can give students intellectual freedom on topics that might be seen as controversial, and it can help readers create free expression and develop new perspectives.
Banned Books Week is an organization that emphasizes the value of individual thinking. It usually happens in the last week of September, and the theme this year is Freed Between the Lines. They focus on removing restrictions on books and showing the harm of censorship.
A writer from the Banned Books Organization shared, “the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas”.
Dee-Mack takes pride in student individuality and creative thinking in the classroom. Our school actually teaches a lot of books that have been banned in different states and school districts, and some you can even just find in the library.
Some of the banned books we that are or have been taught here:
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Fahrenheit 451
- The Catcher in the Rye
- The Hate U Give
In conversation with Mr. McCoy, he told us that he believes students should have the freedom to experience all walks of life in a library, which is why you can find the following and more amongst our shelves:
- Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- The Bluest Eye
- The Handmaid’s Tale
Banned books outline history, and it’s important for students to understand what these stories can do for us and why these voices need to be heard. It’s important to understand all perspectives.
If you want to learn more about the Banned Books Week organization you can look at their website: https://bannedbooksweek.org/about/
