Banned Books Week (September 18 – October 24, 2022) highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Censorship of the written word is almost as old as the written word itself.  Power, politics, fear, trust or lack of trust …  there are many factors that support arguments for censoring.

Join us this week in reflecting on access to books – access to information – freedom of thought – freedom to read.

Below are statistics on book censorship.

Information is powerful. The discussion of who is heard and who gets to decide should be part of our ongoing conversation, especially now when inclusion, inequity, race, and respect are topics that must be heard.

The American Library Association maintains an Intellectual Freedom blog if you are interested in following some of these conversations at a national level. https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/

If you are interested in reading more about Banned Books Week, visit the national BBW2022 page : https://bannedbooksweek.org/

Hey Beth. Why are some of the words in this blog redacted?
Oh that? I just decided I didn’t like words that started with the letter ‘b’ – too dangerous for Lucas to see, so is probably too dangerous for everyone.
Ok, that’s a bit silly, but…
think….
and discuss….