Happy Banned Book Week 2021. My library is decorated this year unlike last year when our school was shut down for the pandemic. I did not decorate because no one was allowed in the library to take out books! Yet, despite COVID the American Library Association reported 156 challenges of 273 books this past year. Most of the challenged books dealt with racism and racial justice, or were biographies about Black, Indigenous, or people of color.
Jason Reynolds is
the honorary
chairman for Banned Book Week 2021 and his book, All American Boys, is the third most challenged book this year. The
top 5 are rounded out by: George for
LGBTQIA+ content, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism,
and You, Speak by Lauri Halse
Anderson, and The Absolutely True Diary
of a Part Time Indian. The latter two are challenged almost every year.
It is only fitting that we celebrate these and other banned
books in the library in September since it is the same month we celebrate
Constitution Day. The First Amendment is what Banned Book Week is all about,
our Freedom to Read!
In November of 2020 the freedom to read was taken away from students
in Central York School District in Pennsylvania. Some 100 books were banned,
taken off the school library shelves, and out of the classrooms for the school
board to “review.” At the start of this month, September 2021, none of the
books had been returned to the libraries or classrooms. Some brave students drew
national attention to the situation when they rallied and spoke in front of the
school board to get the books reinstated. Most of the books banned were by or
about people of color and many were picture books like I
am Enough, Hair
Love and, Jabari
Jumps. Others were biographies like: I
am Martin Luther King, Jr., and I
am Malala. After weeks of protest,
the school board decided to reverse their ban, the students and everyone in the
community won a victory for equality, diversity, and inclusion but more than
that, they won a victory for the First Amendment. Now the bravery of the
students is being rewarded via
the donations of hundreds and hundreds of books by people from all over the
world.
