This week, Ralph Brown Draughon Library is hosting Banned Books Week to educate the public on book censorship. Displays, interactive boards and a book reading event will be available this week, Oct. 1 through Oct. 7 at the library.
Abigail Higgins, instructor in student success and assistant professor, and Carrie Hill, digital scholarship librarian and assistant professor, provided details about the week and what people can expect.
“It’s not a university-specific initiative,” Hill said. “Banned Books Week is a national week celebrated through the ALA, which is the American Library Association.”
Hill mentioned that ALA started tracking book challenges in the 90s and created advocacy resources for librarians.
“ALA was formed in 1876, so it’s been around a long time,” said Jayson Hill, director of communications and marketing for Auburn University Libraries. “Right now there are 49,727 libraries that are members of ALA.”
On a screen display on the first floor of the library, one of the statistics shows that in 2000, only 378 books were challenged. After the pandemic, challenged books went from 223 in 2020 to 1,858 in 2021 and up to 2,571 in 2022.
Two of the most common reasons books face challenges are due to the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ content and sexually explicit content, according to ALA’s website. RBD created bookmarks of these statistics from ALA to show the top 13 most challenged books.
Some of the most well-known books being challenged include "A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas, "The Perks of a Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky and the most challenged book: "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe.
“In some cases in Alabama, some libraries are being hit with challenges and the books aren’t even in their collection,” Hill said. “But the community members, the parents have gotten a list off the internet and they come to challenge these books and the library won’t have it.”
Banned Books Week became supported by RBD when Higgins and Hill recognized books being challenged in the Auburn Public Library.
“There’s been some local challenges within our public library here, and so how can we as a university help educate students that are not just living in a university bubble, but as members of the community as well?” Higgins said. “My take on it is the more we can educate students now while they are still learning about their intellectual abilities and freedoms, then the better they are going to be good citizens.”
With all the challenges facing a large number of famous and loved books, RBD is showing its support.
“We’ve got a lot of events going on; most of them are displays trying to highlight different books that have been challenged in the past,” Higgins said.
One of the displays Higgins described is interactive. By Panera, a board can be found with sticky notes written on by students where they answer the question: why does the freedom to read matter to you?
“Downstairs, Carrie [has] put together a display of books we have here in RBD Library that have been challenged in the past. Students can browse through there and see what we have on our shelves that have been under threat before,” Higgins said.
Another event going on is a public reading of banned books on Oct. 4. It will take place 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and will take place in the lobby of Mell Classroom Building.
“Students or anyone on campus can sign up to read for five or ten minutes to read a banned book or a book that’s been challenged in the past,” Higgins said. “Again, we are trying to raise awareness for these titles that have faced challenges.”
Looking beyond Banned Books Week, advice that Hill shared to combat challenging and censoring books is to know the difference between reliable information and misinformation.
RBD be promoting the freedom to read through Banned Books week until Oct. 7. To learn more, visit lib.auburn.edu for more information.
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Piper Bosart, junior in journalism, is the assistant culture editor for The Auburn Plainsman. She has been with The Plainsman since January, 2022.
