Drew kicked off Banned Books Week with the installation of a Banned Books exhibit in the library. Banned Books Week, which was started in 1982 by the American Library Association in response to efforts to censor books in schools and libraries, is celebrated annually in September.
The exhibition was put together by Professor Wendy Kolmar’s course, Banned Books: Race, Gender, and Sexuality Under Fire. Students each selected a banned book to read and researched its history of bans, challenges and restrictions in the United States across recent years. The exhibit features some of the most banned books of all time, including George Orwell’s “1984” and Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer.”
These books, along with book tags that provide a brief overview of the book and its respective bans and challenges, are on display in the glass case in the library foyer. Also included in the exhibit is an interactive comment board, “I read banned books” stickers and a map with the locations of various bans, challenges and legislations.
Continuing to spread awareness on the fight against censorship, Kolmar invited various prominent figures in the banned books movement to come speak to her class and members of the Drew community.
Dan Novack, Associate General Counsel to the Penguin Random House publishing company, spoke to Kolmar’s class on Sept. 24. As a media lawyer for the publishing house, Novack defends books for legal purposes. In recent years, this has grown to encompass challenging book bans in courts. As Novack argues, book banning goes against the First Amendment right to free speech, and the right to receive information.
As Novack claims, books that are deemed “divisive” or “age-inappropriate” can be easily pulled. Under the law, an “obscene” book is one which is found to be lacking in literary, political, artistic or scientific value. Because terms like “pornographic” are so vague, it is easy to make the case for any book to be removed or restricted, which facilitates discriminatory banning. Attacks on “sex” and “pornographic material” are typically coded for LGBTQ content, and books featuring or written by people of color are disproportionately banned. This discrimination creates a stigma around reading these books, so that marginalized students are either unable to access them or are discriminated against for reading books through which their identities can be affirmed.
Following Novack’s talk was a public speech by Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association. Drabinski spoke on the various challenges she encountered in her fight against book banning as well as the attacks she sustained on her character as a liberal and queer woman.
In her speech, Drabinski compared the United State’s banning of books to that which occurred in the beginnings of fascism in Hungary. She expressed the belief, however, that unlike the events of Hungary, our fight against censorship will soon be won.
As Drabinski claimed, the number of books being successfully banned has started to decrease. The American Library Association reports that last year between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 695 attempts were made to censor books in libraries and classrooms, with 1,915 titles being challenged. In the same period this year, 414 challenges were made concerning 1,128 different titles (2024 Preliminary Book Ban Data).
Novack, too, was hopeful, noting that other large publishing companies are following Penguin Random House in the fight against book banning. New Jersey is currently trying to pass “The Freedom to Read Act,” a legislation that would protect materials in public schools and libraries from being banned. When asked in his panel what young people might do to fight against the banned books movement, Novack remarked that “Calling your local legislator means a lot.” Each call to a legislator represents the beliefs of a great many. A claim that you will vote for a candidate which will fight against book banning suggests that young people like yourself will vote in the same way, and will encourage legislators to take a stance against censorship. See the legislative roster on the New Jersey Legislature website, or the website of your respective state legislature for a guide on who you might contact to take a stand in the fight against censorship.
Keiran Dugan is a junior majoring in English with a literature concentration and a minor in education.
Featured image courtesy of Keiran Dugan.
