Banned Books Week advocates and educates in defense of the value of free and open access to information.
The theme of Banned Books Week 2024, which took place Sept. 22-28, was “Freed Between the Lines” and focused on intellectual freedom in a time of deep political division.
Introduced in 1982, Banned Books Week became an annual tradition in response to soaring numbers of books being banned that year. Held in September, the event unites librarians, educators, authors, students, publishers, booksellers and readers alike in promoting freedom of inquiry and expression.
“I believe many ‘controversial’ books make people uncomfortable or perhaps inspire conversations that they are not comfortable engaging in, which leads to them wanting to remove the source of discomfort and minimize their interactions with it,” wrote Margaret Bates, a research and instructional services librarian at Gorgas Library, in an email.
In 2023, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom noted a 65% increase in efforts to censor books over the year prior, with many of those targeted representing the LGBTQ+ population and the voices of Black, Indigenous and other authors of color.
Bates said that censoring books with preconceived uncomfortable topics can send a message to students that their feelings or life experiences should be put aside for the sake of others’ comfort, or that their identities are not as important as others.
The University of Alabama Libraries follows the American Library Association Code of Ethics, which serves as a framework to uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist efforts to censor library resources.
“Higher academic institutions, like UA, tend not to be impacted as severely by book bans and censorship because our collection, even of children’s literature, is meant for research rather than circulation,” Bates wrote. “We are still able to access many banned and challenged books. University libraries are also not usually the targeted institutions in these challenges.”
However, this does not mean university students are unaffected by book bans. Kovals Petrauskas, a sophomore majoring in political science, said the impact of censorship on students is long-term.
Petrauskas said book bans during K-12 might affect not only what kids want to read or how often, but also what they consider valuable information sources.
“I think a lot of adults are being very reductive because books that they’re challenging are issues that kids will have to deal with,” Petrauskas said. “We see people take issue with books that highlight racial injustices and feminism. We see books being challenged that are about queer identity, or even just contain references to queer identity. I think people want to believe that children should not or will not have to deal with these issues.”
Many states have gone as far as making legislative efforts to ban and restrict access to certain books. Alabama State Representative Arnold Mooney is set to put the House Bill 4 proposition before the Alabama House on Feb. 4, 2025. The bill expands eligibility for criminal penalties to apply to libraries at public K-12 schools as well as general public libraries and their employees if they distribute or display material determined to be “harmful to minors,” as defined in the bill.
“Legislation criminalizing libraries and librarians can steer people away from the field, for fear of prosecution or other consequences,” Bates wrote.
Bates said this impacts not only the books people read but also media and scholarly research. With fewer people in the field, there are fewer people who can uphold the principles of intellectual freedom.
“Historically, book banning tends to lead down a slippery slope to persecution,” Bates wrote. “Read banned books. Talk about them, question why they are censored.”
