Banned Books and Fear

You know that song about the holiday season being the most wonderful time of the year?  Well, it's wrong . . . the most wonderful time of the year is right now, during Banned Books Week!  I love the community engagement and education that is possible during this time of year, including but not limited to patron queries into why on earth we are celebrating the banning of books!

This year, there have been a number of patrons asking me why the library would celebrate people banning or challenging books, and it has been my enormous pleasure to let them know that we are celebrating the right to read, rather than bans and challenges.  One of my favorite discussion points during Banned Books Week is how banning and challenging books has changed and evolved over time.  I think that THIS Times article does a great job of exploring how the reasons behind calls for bans or censorship have changed and some possible reasons why.  Happy Banned Books Week to all, and to all a good night!