Anyone who stands for the principles of the First Amendment may be against the banning of certain books in school libraries.
Banned Books Week is from September 24th through October 1st. Banned Books Week stands to honor the books that have been banned from school libraries across the nation. Different lists of these books can be found online.
The issue of banning books, deemed with inappropriate content, angers many people. Some think books should be available for everyone.
“I am against banning books, and as Americans, we should be free to read what we want,” librarian Alice Pleasants said.
Librarian Kim Ritter agrees, “As a librarian, I am fundamentally opposed to book banning.”
Since many are against this so-called censorship, students have the same view on the subject. “Writing is about speaking your mind, and if someone doesn’t agree with an author, then he or she can choose not to read,” senior Maddie Houck said.
At Kettle Run, book banning has never been an issue, but the library still takes it very seriously. “Our role is to provide students/staff with an awareness of the practice of book banning and its challenges,” Pleasants said.
The library will be taking part in Banned Books Week to help raise awareness. “We use the week to make students aware of our rights as readers and of the fact that some books are removed from the shelves in areas across the country,” Ritter said.
“The library uses the opportunity to display banned books. It is surprising what you will find displayed,” library assistant Tammy McGilvery said, since many of the books are classics.
Ritter and Pleasants will work on a video conference with novelist Neal Shusterman, who has had his books questioned in some schools due to controversial issues. There will also be daily questions based on the subject of book banning.
“We hope to get some ideas for activities from our experience, and additionally, we may ask our student announcers to broadcast a fact or quote regarding a banned book on the morning announcements,” Ritter said.
“People should be allowed to use their freedom of speech, and banning books just promotes censoring peoples’ thoughts and restricting creativity,” said Houck.
While some schools have banned books, Kettle Run does not partake in those beliefs, and during Banned Books Week all of those books will be on display and available for checkout.