BOISE, Idaho — Banned Books Week is the first week in October. The event was started in 1982 to bring attention to the large number of books being banned in the United States every year. The campaign is also backed by the American Library Association (ALA) and Amnesty International.
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs," Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom states on the website.
These past few years the country has seen a large uptick in book bans in public schools and libraries. In 2022 the ALA reported a 21 year record high in banned books. Pen America, a nonprofit that raises awareness of free expression in literature and tracks book bans, states that many of these bans are targeted at authors who are LGBTQ+, female and people of color.
"In the 2022–23 school year, from July 1, 2022, to June 31, 2023, PEN America recorded 3,362 instances of book bans in US public school classrooms and libraries. These bans removed student access to 1,557 unique book titles, the works of over 1,480 authors, illustrators, and translators," the website states.
Idaho has also seen its share of book bans this year and years prior. Campaigns to close public libraries, legislation drafted to ban books, banning books in schools and libraries and more recently, a North Idaho Sheriff deciding if legal action will be taken over available library books are just some of the controversies that have happened.
Rediscovered Books, located in downtown Boise, compiled a list of the books that have been banned this year in the Treasure Valley in schools and libraries. There are nearly 40 books listed on their website. Rediscovered Books and The Cabin started the Read Freely Project, it aims to connect people through literature without censorship.
In honor of Banned Books Week, the bookstore also has displays for adult and youth books that have been banned.
"Each year we look at the most banned books and put them on display to facilitate this conversation with our customers," the website states. "Every reader deserves to see themselves in a book and everyone deserves to have their story told. Access to these books through school and public libraries is necessary for a democratic and free society. If we limit those who get to participate in the flow of culture and narrow the perspectives that are deemed "acceptable", we negate whole segments of the population and discount the value that they bring to our entire story. We lose the richness that makes humanity awe inspiring."
People can learn more about Banned Books Week at bannedbooksweek.org.
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