Reflecting On Banned Books Week
Last Saturday was the last day of Banned Books Week, an annual event that was started in 1982 by the American Library Association to combat book censorship. Throughout history, there have always been books that people disliked, fought over, or just destroyed due to the content. The goal of Banned Books Week is to raise awareness and fight for the freedom to read. Reading enables people to open up their minds, hearts, feelings, curiosities, and so much more. It is a means of learning that cannot be found in any other way.
On my Instagram page and on LinkedIn, every day I shared a book that I’ve read that has been, or is currently, considered a banned book. The lists are extensive, and in fact, rather alarming. Previously, there were smaller groups and individual people challenging and banning books. But today a majority of the book banning advocates are large focus groups, political conglomerates and even whole states.
One thing important to note is that a challenged book and a banned book are not the same thing. A challenged book is a book that someone has attempted to remove from being accessible. A banned book is one that has actually been restricted in its availability, being removed from school or public libraries. The list of challenged books is longer than is worth reading but its extent is absolutely shocking. It includes books about complex social issues but also picture books about a young girl’s experience with her own hair.
I recently avoided, luckily, an in depth discussion with the father of a friend of mine. He asked me how my work was going and what my ideas were about the extent of books these days. I told him what I know to be true - books give readers the ability to explore whole new worlds, enjoy different ideas, encounter strange things, but most importantly, they teach readers things. They teach readers things like how to be empathetic, how to understand someone else’ worldview, how to face challenges, and more. In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, when Neville stands up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, we see an example of true courage. Any person would be hard pressed to suddenly become courageous just because someone told them how they should do it. Rather, the example of something makes it more understandable to us. My friend’s dad asked me why I didn’t think we could learn those sorts of things from reading about people who are like ourselves. We got distracted because dinner was served and so we moved on.
This encounter really struck me. In all my years of loving, studying, and experiencing literature, I have never been of the belief that reading about people exactly like myself was more meaningful or gratifying than reading books with characters I didn’t precisely relate to. Of course, I love to see myself reflected in Hermione Granger, or Jo March. But the books I read that challenged me, pushed me to think bigger and deeper, forced me to examine myself and the world around me, are some of the ones I enjoyed the most.
I wrote two theses in school, one for my undergraduate honors degree and one for my masters degree. Both of them focused on this very idea, that learning something from a book is a different kind of education. My undergraduate thesis examined the Harry Potter series and I put it into the context of C.S. Lewis’ Four Loves. I studied Aunt Petunia, and how she has love for Harry, even if it doesn’t look like love. I explored Snape, perhaps one of the most fascinating characters in reading history, and how his love manifests itself in ways we can barely understand. By studying these characters through the lens of something more intangible, I was able to better understand the intangible. I could see how love was present in my own life, even if it looked different than expected. I learned how to love others in a way I would not think of as particularly loving. I learned through a book what I could not have easily learned otherwise.
For my masters thesis, I expounded on what my undergraduate thesis addressed. I studied the theme of friendship in Tamora Peirce’s world of Tortall, which includes a variety of quartets and duologies. Even while Alanna was disguised as a boy, she built true friendships with her peers. Those friendships become even stronger as she shares her true self. She is an amazing example of how people can connect with other people without having a multitude of things in common. When Kel decides to pursue what she thinks is right, even at the risk of her reputation, we as readers begin to learn that doing the right thing isn’t always easy, or popular, but it’s meaningful and important.
Everyone reads a book differently and so I can understand that not everybody loves the same book. Or the same genre, time period, characters, theme, etc. But books are written by a variety of people and should be read by a multitude of people, who are then given the opportunity to learn something from it. They might learn a new fun fact, or a new part of history they didn’t know. But they might also learn how to be steadfast, or learn humility, or learn what it is like to live in someone else’s shoes. Banned Books Week is so vital for many reasons, but to me it is particularly important because when limiting books, you’re limiting knowledge. And not all knowledge is easily learned, or understood, or respected. But as a society, we need to remain steadfast in fighting for the freedom to read. It can, and will, change the future.
