{"id":8754,"date":"2023-09-20T01:24:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T01:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=8754"},"modified":"2023-09-20T00:29:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T00:29:57","slug":"banned-books-we-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/banned-books-we-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned Books We Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When I was selecting the best mini posters submitted by SEBS students as their library instruction class assignment<\/a>, the number of banned and challenged books Rutgers students picked took me by great surprise. From classics to recent titles, the books they chose to recommend are available from Rutgers University Libraries; <\/a>the same titles often listed as the top challenged books by the American Library Association.<\/p>\n

The reasons behind banning or challenging books vary from time to time. As suggested in a previous post introducing Banned Books Week in 2020<\/a>, it\u2019s tempting to try and sort banned books into categories based on the grounds for the ban or challenge: indecency or political subversion. (Note: New to banned books? Written by our English literature expert, the post is a great overview of censorship and book bans.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Classics<\/a> and\u00a0bestsellers<\/a> are regularly challenged. However, thankfully, there\u2019s a lot of awareness about intellectual freedom and censorship all over the world, f<\/span>rom ephemeral or grassroots initiatives such as <\/span>zines<\/a> to spectacular installations such as the <\/span>Big Ben lying down with banned books<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Libraries and librarians all over the the United States have been advocating for the freedom to read for decade<\/a>s, while in other, less fortunate regions of the world they are doing their best, along with their readers, to mitigate harsh restrictions<\/a> imposed by governments and their organizations to make books accessible and available. Historically, banned authors shared entire books in <\/span>samizdat<\/a> publications defying censorship and risking arrest and imprisonment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Display\"<\/a>

The display in Chang library relies on ALA resources<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to challenging books, the American Library Association (ALA) is the true champion of advocacy. Graduate students in library schools promptly learn how to face challenges initiated by parents, even if the practice is limited to mostly school libraries and the occasional public library in certain states. Luckily for us, academic institutions don\u2019t require establishing the same protocols, thanks to academic freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n