Milligan joined the worldwide celebration of Banned Books Week during the week of Sept. 22-28. All week the Welshimer Library brought attention to Banned Books on the chalkboard on the first floor and posted information about the week in the library.
The chalkboard featured the American Library Association’s theme: “Censorship Leaves us in the Dark, Keep the Light On.” Every year, Milligan partners with the ALA to bring new ideas and new ways to celebrate Banned Books Week.
User Services Librarian Jude Morrissey believes that access to information and reading are highly important to all individuals. “It is the cornerstone of librarianship in a lot of ways,” said Morrissey. “We want to make sure that people are aware of the ongoing problem in the world.”
This year the ALA encouraged readers to send notes or reach out to authors of banned books on social media. The chalkboard in Welshimer Library had a list of addresses and Twitter handles of those authors.
Professor Art Brown’s Graphic Design II class also contributed to the celebration. Students were given the task of designing new dust jackets for previously banned or challenged books. The new covers were on display throughout the week in the library.
“I assigned a project that would require students to research both the content of the book and current design trends to design on multiple sides of a three dimensional object,” Brown said. “The goal was to design with a clear hierarchy of information and to communicate complex information in a small amount of space.”
Students taking Graphic Design II had their book covers displayed in the library. Graham Denton redesigned the cover of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. Emmah Ndune redesigned the cover of “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Jared Timmons redesigned the cover of “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. Sydney Rhoton redesigned “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, and Brenna Kincaid redesigned the cover of “A Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein.
Photos of each project are posted on @milliganlibraries on Instagram.
“Another objective was for my students to be able to practice presenting their concepts to others outside of our classroom,” Brown said. “I knew that the library always has a display for Banned Books Week, and last spring I asked if they would be interested in collaborating this fall.”
Every year the ALA releases a list of the ten most challenged books. This year, that list includes 11 books that were censored by libraries and schools in the United States in 2018. The list was dominated by titles with LGBTQIA+ content and characters.
Banned Books Week was started in 1982 to bring attention to the fact that literature was being banned and to celebrate the freedom to read. A book can be banned or challenged based on it’s content, and according to a research study at Bates College in Maine, the banning of a book depends on location. Often in the United States, the banning of a book has to do with sex and religion, whereas in other countries books are banned because of politics.
Morrissey originally got into librarianship because of the restriction of information. “I was living in Thailand and they had strict rules over the information citizens had access to,” Morrissey said. “When I saw how people had no idea what was going on in the world because of government restriction, I became very passionate about the right to access of information.”
A multitude of books are banned or challenged, but the ALA has advocates that fight against censorship of literature. It is a common misconception that banned books are not as popular or are extremely vulgar.
Some of the most challenged books include the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling. The most challenged banned book of 2017 was “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher, which now has a Netflix adaptation of the novel.
“Sometimes people get confused and think that libraries are banning the books, but we’re not,” Morrissey said. “We want everyone to know that we believe in people’s right to read and to have access to the information or the entertainment that they want.”
More information about Banned Books Week can be found at WeForum.Org.