About National Banned Books Week

DESCRIPTION:

Banned Books Week focuses on what those in power try to prevent others from learning, thinking, or believing and the importance of supporting the freedom to read. After all, without that freedom, the world would still be flat, evolution would be extinct, and the planet would be just 5,500 years old.

Americans used to believe we live in a world where books are no longer banned. Unfortunately, that assumption has never been the case. The focus in recent years has been on "Young Adult Readers," children in junior high and high school. Though some topics and subjects, particularly those dealing with sexuality, are generally removed from children's libraries, limiting accessibility to inappropriate material for an age group is not banning. The material is still easily accessible to those of an appropriate age.

The process of banning books seeks to remove a book from society entirely because the book contradicts or challenges dominant religious views, is political, doesn't support a nation's cultivated heritage (its self-propaganda), or touches on topics people in power wish to suppress, like socialism, human rights, or climate change. Banning books is a story as old as parchment. Lately, the story has taken a twist.

There is increased vigor by several states in the United States to ban books, mentions, or instruction in school and public libraries relating to non-white lived experiences and the controversial emerging fields of gender studies. In some cases, the targeted books contain sexually explicit information that many parents believe is inappropriate for children prior to puberty. In other cases, the targeted books seek to educate at age-appropriate levels a less-than-ideal portrayal of American history, which some parents find offensive. The argument over what children can and cannot read continues, becoming a dog whistle topic for the 2024 elections.

However, book and idea banning are nothing new. Historically, there are millions of examples. Current international examples include

Israel's targeted removal of Palestinians and their history from its school books.
The banning of non-Islamic religious texts and ideas in several Gulf nations.
China's erasure of anything to do with the Tiananmen Square Massacre from books, instruction, and media.
Book banning is a universal tactic to enforce societal compliance and limit the spread of ideas that may challenge the status quo. The freer the society, the fewer the bans. The more bans, the more authoritarian the society and the tighter its control on its citizens. Ultimately, bans, including book bans, are about knowledge—who gets it and who can be controlled by its absence.