Freed Between the Lines
Banned Books Week is September 22-28, 2024. The theme is "Freed Between the Lines." We can find freedom in the pages of a book — but book bans and censorship threaten that freedom, along with many other rights and institutions.
Let’s look at some thoughts about books and reading.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, ”for me, when I write for children or speak to them, it’s to create for them that lasting gift that I hope will inspire them to do something they haven’t even dreamed about.”
“If I can affect the lives of children — if I can inspire them to be bigger, better, braver than they believe they can be — then I’ve left a real legacy.”
As a child, Sotomayor said, “reading became my rocket ship out of the second-floor apartment in the projects. I traveled the world through books. And even to this day, if I’m feeling down about anything, I pick up a book, and I just read.”
“The impulse to silence other perspectives is profoundly misguided, and contrary to what has made this country great,” said former president Barack Obama. “It’s also important to understand that the world is watching. If America — a nation built on freedom of expression — allows certain voices and ideas to be silenced, why should other countries go out of their way to protect them?”
Banning books is an attack on students' rights to learn. “To attack library books, you’re attacking the ability to learn, grow, think,” said Missouri state Rep. Anthony Ealy (D)
“Every book counts, or no book counts.” Michael Connolly, author.
“We cannot ban books. I’m a teacher. We cannot do that.” First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
“It’s time to understand that they’re serious about suppressing information…” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s intellectual freedom office.
Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. By focusing on efforts to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. This annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.
In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books.
During Banned Books Week 2024 and beyond, let’s share our love of the right to read and the freedom found in books. Support the authors of banned books by purchasing and reading one or more— https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019
Let’s be Freed Between the Lines!