Since 2020, book bans and challenges have become coordinated, organized efforts.
This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.Lori Rubin looks for a book for her 14-year-old grandson during the MoveOn banned bookmobile tour stop outside Sandmeyer’s Bookstore in the South Loop on July 13, 2023.
These groups’ efforts have led to books being pulled off shelves, and they have helped push forward legislation in states such as Texas, where late last month,that will go into effect Jan. 1 that is meant to dissuade book bans as public libraries and school districts will be ineligible for state grants if they restrict materials. It is not foolproof, however, as it does not have added protections for acts of violence or intimidation toward public and school libraries and librarians.
Banned Books Week runs through Sunday. I urge readers who support freedom of speech to act against censorship in a number of ways. You can attend a library board or school board meeting to speak against book bans and challenges. You can write to your local representative about the importance of standing up to book bans. You can read a banned book aloud and post it on YouTube as part of the. You can post your stance on social media and use the hashtag #BannedBooksWeek to show their support.
Even if you don’t have librarians in your schools, you can attend a school board meeting to advocate for one as many schools in our state and across the country have cut library media specialists, making access to materials especially difficult, even without people challenging materials.One simple act readers can do is pick up a book that’s on the banned books list and read it. It is powerful — and alarming — that the act of reading poses a risk and is a form of activism.
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