Written by Jonathan Tignor
If you reflect back on your days of high school English class (hopefully they weren’t something out of Ferris Bueller), you will probably recall reading books like “Huckleberry Finn,” “Catcher in the Rye,” “Grapes of Wrath,” or maybe even “Animal Farm.” But did you know that all of these classic works, and many more, were once banned? Or that in some communities, they still are? Unfortunately, book banning is a form of censorship that continues to occur in much of the world today, including in the United States. What would our society look like if such widely influential works of literature were still withheld or restricted? The vision seems bleak.
The censorship of books, even those with controversial ideas, is a limitation of free speech and prevents honest, open discussion; both the American Library Association (ALA) and the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) condemn the bans that occur in schools and public libraries across the country. Fortunately, we have Banned Books Week to help combat this suppression of knowledge.
First established in 1982, Banned Books Week was created in response to a growing number of bans and challenges towards “inappropriate” books in schools, bookstores, and libraries. Typically occurring during the last week of September, Banned Books Week seeks to celebrate both our freedom to read and the persisting availability of challenged books. However, according to the ALA, there have been more than 11,300 book challengings since 1982. Libraries have been strong supporters of the initiative, including our own Tutt Library. If you have been paying attention to the Student or Event List-Servs for the past week, you may have noticed daily quotes in regards to the literary campaign.
Marie Wheatwind, a Research Librarian at Tutt, has been instrumental in spreading awareness here at Colorado College. “Promoting individual learning is the most important part of our mission . . . people should be able to read and form their own opinions,” said Wheatwind in regards to Tutt’s involvement with Banned Books Week.
Restricting books of any kind—i.e., literature, philosophy, history, children’s lit, etc.—can have detrimental consequences to a society. “It deprives the community of information that they deserve. It’s a removal from the democratic process . . . There is deeper truth in the information available in the library,” said Wheatwind, distressed by those who support the limitation of knowledge.
Whether it be “Looking for Alaska” or “Mein Kampf,” there are ideas and information contained within these books that people have the right to access. Just because an individual reads “Mein Kampf,” doesn’t mean they are going to become a Nazi; as individuals, they form their own outlook and response to the ideas presented (in this case they would hopefully be concerned and not supportive).
Banning books removes individuals from potential discussions, but those discussions are exactly what help foster open-mindedness. Luckily for CC students, we attend an institution that does not participate in the censorship of works. “CC does not ban or challenge any works . . . We have displays to help make people aware, [and] we carry a variety of formerly suppressed works,” said Wheatwind. For the past week, Tutt Library has had an insightful display on censorship to raise awareness on the issue, shelving examples of banned books and providing general information on the history of challenged books. “I want to keep us thinking about our freedom of speech as a valuable thing,” Wheatwind said.
Wheatwind is absolutely right; our freedom to seek out ideas, even those that may be controversial, is of paramount value. Nowhere in the world is everything allowed to be published, but it is universal freedom worth striving for. Any limitation on the consumption of information can be harmful to a community.
Through books we ultimately gain a greater understanding of ourselves, of others, and of the world around us; the freedom to read is something beautiful that must be preserved.