{"id":8761,"date":"2023-10-04T01:27:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T01:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=8761"},"modified":"2025-10-03T01:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T01:14:20","slug":"ru-students-stand-with-banned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/ru-students-stand-with-banned\/","title":{"rendered":"Rutgers Students Stand with the Banned"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/h4>\n

\"Exhibit\"<\/a>Banned Books Students Read<\/span><\/p>\n

Following up on my <\/span>surprising discovery<\/a> about the volume of banned and challenged books Rutgers students read, I decided to make banned books the focus of my library instruction sessions at the SEBS Academic Mentoring course. A great introduction to the Rutgers University Libraries resources and services available to first-generation, first-year college students at SEBS, this week of library sessions happened to be a week before Banned Books Week, October 1-7, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

To justify my focus, other than emphasizing the importance of intellectual freedom and the freedom to read at the point of their transition from high school to college, here\u2019s the top list of banned or challenged books that first-year SEBS students previously picked for similar library instruction class assignments, (without a special focus or mentioning book bans), in 2019-2022. Browse the matching posters from 2018-2022<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Slaughterhouse Five<\/span><\/em> by Kurt Vonnegu<\/span>t<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. 1984 <\/span><\/em>by George Orwell<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. A Clockwork Orange<\/span><\/em> by Anthony Burges<\/span>s<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The Catcher in the Rye<\/span><\/em> by J. D. Salinger<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The Things They Carried<\/i> <\/span>by Tim O’Brien<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The Handmaid’s Tale<\/i><\/span> by Margaret Atwood<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The Hate U Give<\/i> <\/span>by Angie Thomas<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. A Brave New World<\/i><\/span> by Aldous Huxley<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. The Glass Castle<\/i> <\/span>by Jeannette Walls<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. The Kite Runner<\/i><\/span> by Khaled Hosseini<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. The Hunger Games<\/i><\/span> by Suzanne Collins<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. I Am Jazz<\/i><\/span> by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. The Perks of Being a Wallflower<\/i> <\/span>by Stephen Chbosky<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The mini-posters created by students to recommend these books in past semesters were ideal contributions to Banned Books Week displays in three New Brunswick Libraries in Fall 2023: Carr<\/a>, Chang<\/a>, and Douglass<\/a>, as a complement to actual books and infographics, either our own or those offered by the American Library Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Bookshelves\"<\/a>
    \nThe biggest exhibit was set up by     Becky Diamond<\/a> and Jamey Silverstein in the highly visible Recreational Reading area in Carr Library, matching books and posters recommending them. The collection itself is the home of many titles often challenged or banned elsewhere. Additionally, Jamey rounded up other books from the Carr collection, and now they are arranged spectacularly along with the infographics.<\/p>\n

    \"Buttons<\/a>The smallest of the three Banned Books Week exhibits in <\/span>Chang<\/a> L<\/span>ibrary features two book + infographics displays inside the library in two small cases, as well as Banned Books Week infographics outside the library in the high-traffic hallway of Foran Hall by the SEBS Little Free Library. I set them up to test various arrangements in various areas with QR codes pointing to more resources. Students can pick up free Banned Books Week buttons too, designed and created by Roselyn Riley-Ryan.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Browse our image galleries in the three libraries:<\/p>\n