Reading books and fighting censorship
By Libby D’Orvilliers
This week, your Instagram feed might feature a few stray posts here and there about “banned books,” and you might scroll on by, onto the next meme of a screaming baby hippo or what have you. Let’s stop our endless scrolling, pause for a moment and look into what this is all about.
This week is Banned Books Week, an annual time dedicated to spreading awareness of the harms of censorship while highlighting the value of open access to information and literature. It is valuable to understand what is happening across the country as book censorship rapidly increases so we can determine how to improve the circumstances surrounding such essential texts.
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom collects data on books that are “challenged,” or have been targeted for censorship, by removing or restricting access to them in libraries and institutions. According to the ALA’s website for Banned Books Week, 2023 saw a total of 4,240 unique titles disputed in the U.S. This is nearly a 50% increase from last year’s data, which mentioned 2,571 unique titles challenged.
Why is this happening? Books are most often disputed simply because an individual or a group of individuals do not agree with material presented in the book. This material could encompass the whole concept of the book or be as minute as a single paragraph deemed “unfit” for public consumption. The ALA notes that a large percentage of books that are commonly challenged represent “the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] individuals.”
We must stop censorship with your help. I consider the challenged books that make the ALA’s yearly top 10 list essential reading. If there are any books that make the list that I have not read yet, I make a point to pick them up next.
Some of my favorite books are frequently challenged. This includes but is not limited to: “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” “The Hate U Give,” “The Giver” and “The Glass Castle.” Shocked to see some of your favorites on my short list? Maybe you were even assigned to read some of these books for school. Chances are you have read at least one of the 4,240 books that were challenged this year alone, even more so if you are an avid reader like myself.
Author Oscar Wilde notes in his book “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “the books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” To address this feeling head-on, celebrate Banned Books Week. Explore different kinds of books. Share them with others. Talk about these books and topics. Fight against censorship – not just this week, but every week.
Just because there is material out there that may not agree with your personal views and beliefs does not mean that you have the right to keep this material from others. Instead, expose yourself to and learn about these differing points of view by actively seeking them out.
Author Haruki Murakami explains in his novel “Norwegian Wood” that “if you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” Break from the herd of simply reading what is prescribed by society, and look into what society is trying to keep you from reading. Those are the books that are going to expand your horizons and help you gain different perspectives on the world.
Libby D’Orvilliers is a junior psychology major
