Banned Book Week Continues
Written By: Isaac Tinnin
09/26/18
Banned Books week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read, and begins on the last week of September. The event sparked up in 1982 when books were suddenly being challenged in schools, libraries and bookstores. The Island Trees school district and Pico Supreme Court case ruled that school officials cannot ban books because of the content within them.
Recently I had a conversation with the Farmington High School Library Media Specialist, Mrs. Kristi Scott, and she had some information about banned book week. When I asked Mrs. Scott what do we do at Farmington High School to contribute in banned books week, she replied, “At Farmington High School we try to bring awareness to the situation. We set up a display that highlights books that others have previously tried to ban and give the reason behind the ban. This display gets students talking and I love it! Sometimes we get T-shirt’s made and wear them to promote the week. We will also post pictures on social media and look forward to working with Black Knight Studio to continue the conversation.” Mrs Kristi Scott is very passionate about banned books week, to librarians, it is a bigger deal than everyone makes it to be.
Books are still being banned to this day, and the one thing anyone can do to help is an attempt to restrict material from being banned. One celebration of the week is the books are trying to be banned, but they continue to be available. Mrs. Scott says “We have a Board approved process for handling challenges/banning of books.” Everyone, schools, librarians, owners of bookstores, should take these measures to help out the books to not being banned.
This last week of September is a significant week for books and and all people involving them. So raise awareness at your school, library or bookstore to help out those books in need. Mrs. Scott says “Common Sense Media says it best when giving reasons for students to read banned books: Today’s edgy is tomorrow’s classic, there’s more to a book than the swear words in it, students crave relatable books, controversial books are a type of virtual reality, they’ll kick off a conversation!!”
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Banned Book Week Continues
September 26, 2018
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