Editor’s note: Banned Books Week is Sept. 24-30 and one of the great advantages of being an ASJA member is that you can do something about unnecessary censorship and protecting First Amendment rights! Click here to find out more about joining ASJA; details on connecting with the Banned Books Committee can be found at the end of this article. You can also learn more about Banned Book Week activities and ways in which you can directly participate, including possibly promoting your own work.
A recent dispute in a western suburb of Chicago underscores the reality that certain books and ideas continue to be challenged in the United States.
In August, the West Chicago Public Library Board voted overwhelmingly 6-1 against an effort made by a conservative organization to remove a book “This Day in June” about LGBT history from the library’s children’s section. According to a report published in the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald, more than 150 people attended the meeting to discuss the possible ban. Of the attendees, 138 people said they favored keeping the book in the children’s section while only 13 opposed it.
The initial challenge came from a parent claiming that the content was inappropriate for children. As a result, the Illinois Family Institute, a nonprofit Christian group, urged people to attend the meeting and support opposition to the book, which it called “propaganda” aimed at children, according to the Chicago Tribune.
This event came just ahead of Banned Books Week, which runs from Sept. 24-30 and serves as a reminder that many books remain under duress from individuals and groups trying to censor what we read. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom—which tracks reports of book challenges and bans and compiles an annual Top Ten Challenged Books List—there was a 17 percent increase in book censorship complaints in 2016.
In response to the increase, this year’s Banned Books Week theme is “Our Right to Read,” a celebration of the diverse range of ideas found in books and our right as citizens to make our own intellectual choices.
ASJA has a long history of combating censorship. In September 1981, alarmed by the removal of books and periodicals from libraries, schools, and newsstands, ASJA launched a nationwide campaign against banned books, including a read-in by prominent authors on the steps of the New York Public Library, where participants wore red-and-white “I Read Banned Books” buttons. The following year, a coalition of organizations concerned with the freedom of speech and the press declared a Banned Books Week.
In addition to ASJA, the current coalition, which is endorsed by Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, includes:
- American Booksellers Association
- American Library Association
- Association of American Publishers
- American Association of University Presses
- Authors Guild
- Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
- Dramatists Legal Defense Fund
- Freedom to Read Foundation
- Index on Censorship
- National Coalition Against Censorship
- National Council of Teachers of English
- PEN America
- People for the American Way Foundation
- Project Censored
The coalition seeks to engage various communities and inspire participation in Banned Books Week through education, advocacy, and the creation of programming about the problem of book censorship.
ASJA is proud to once again support Banned Books Week. And we are still selling—and wearing—our buttons.
A member of ASJA’s Banned Books Committee, Paul LaTour is based in Aurora, Illinois. His work has been recognized by the Chicago Headline Club, the Associated Press Sports Editors and in Best American Sports Writing.
ASJA welcomes more members to its Banned Books Committee, which deals with instances of local challenges to books, most often in schools and libraries. If you’re interested in joining, please contact Sally Olds at wendkosolds@alumni.upenn.edu. This is a subcommittee of our First Amendment Committee, which focuses on many issues involving freedom of speech, and thus protects our members’ right to write and to publish, as afforded in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.