“Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us” is the theme of Banned Books Week 2022, observed from September 18 to 24 this year. Committed to intellectual freedom, Books We Read joins the American Library Association’s annual event, which has brought together the entire book community to support the freedom “to seek and to express ideas, even … Read More
Editor’s note: celebrating the freedom to read with The Library Book on Banned Books Week 2022. Held September 18 – 24, this year’s theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Read more about the initiative from the American Library Association, including the most frequently challended books of 2021. We at Books We Read are … Read More
If you grew up in the United States, you must know who Judy Blume is. If you didn’t, the name may still sound familiar, especially if you are interested in banned books. The Newark Star-Ledger’s headline that one of the rest areas along the Garden State Parkway was recently named after Judy Blume is not … Read More
Interviews with Authors: A Bibliotherapy Reader in Hungarian Judit Hajnal Ward often publishes in her native Hungarian in topics related to Library and Information Science. Her book entitled Nyitott Könyvtár (Open Libraries) was published in 2015 by Kalligram in Budapest. The second interview in the series focuses on her latest book, related to bibliotherapy in … Read More
I picked up Slaughterhouse Five to read a passage for the Rutgers Banned Books virtual event. Little did I know that this fun side-project would contribute to my academic papers this semester! Sometimes a good book seeps into the other areas of our lives. Much of the time, I pick up a book because it … Read More
As I was fixing up a summary of the latest library challenge in Wyoming in Hungarian for KIT, a weekly newsletter on libraries, information, and society, it dawned on me how a picture of the threatened transgender magician can tell a thousand words. The issue, which points beyond the walls of the libraries, again, reminded me … Read More
Books have been banned, challenged, censored, or even burned by organizations, schools, and parent organizations for a lot of reasons. What defines a banned or a challenged book? A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves completely. Books that have been challenged are an attempt by a person or group to remove … Read More
Last week we celebrated Banned Books week in an event called BANNED: A Virtual Banned Books Read-Out & Discussions on the Freedom to Read at Rutgers. In my flash talk at the online event, I mentioned a library and information science-related weekly newsletter called KIT Hírlevél (Library, Information & Society News) in Hungary. The newsletter polled its readers … Read More
A children’s book shredded in public by a member of the parliament. A poster outside a bookstore warning customers of books with “homosexual propaganda dangerous to children.” A mayor demanding that a book should be removed from a library display, upon (alleged) complaints from the public. Finally, a newsletter polling librarians whether professional organizations should raise … Read More
I have always enjoyed children’s and young adult (YA) books and continue to read them even as an adult. When I became a parent, I loved reading books to my kids, sharing my favorites with them and finding new ones we could appreciate together. Once they started reading on their own, I started screening many … Read More