Tag: Banned Books

Banned Books Week

October 5-11 is the ALA’s “Banned Books Week.” Censorship and book banning is alive and well, and we need to fight it. In Canada, and other nations that claim to embrace democracy and freedom, fascism no longer just lurking in the shadows– it is here, out in the open, and seizing power where it can. Fascists seek to control information as a means of controlling the population, and the censorship of books and other reading materials is one prong in that attack.

In Canada we observe the similar “Freedom to Read Week” in the new year. However, we can also join with our American neighbours in recognizing Banned Books Week and the attacks on freedom and democracy that are posed by the massively sharp rise of book banning. The US has seen an especially concerted attack on books for teens about marginalized communities. We are not immune from such fascist tactics in Canada, as book challenges have risen in step with the rise of far right propaganda, and in most cases are centered on schools, classrooms and school libraries.

Find out more about Banned Books Week.

Freedom to Read Week: Do You Know Your Banned Books?

Play a “Sporcle” that asks you to show off your knowledge of some of the most challenged books of the past few years.

Freedom to Read Week in Canada is February 23 to March 1

Banned Books Week

September 22 to 29 is the ALA’s “Banned Books Week.” While we in Canada observe the similar “Freedom to Read Week” in the new year, we can also join with our American neighbours in recognizing the very real threats to freedom and democracy that are posed by the massively sharp rise of book banning. The US has seen an especially concerted attack on books for teens about marginalized communities. We are not immune from such fascist tactics in Canada, as book challenges have risen in step with the rise of far right propaganda, and in most cases are centered on schools, classrooms and school libraries.

Find out more about Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week

bannedbooks2016September 25 to October 1st is Banned Books Week in the United States. We in Canada can join with our neighbours in celebrating the freedom to read and acknowledging the ongoing struggle against censorship and other forces that attack our freedom.

For more information on Banned Books Week:

 

Banned Books Week

BBW-logoSeptember 21-27 is Banned Books Week in the United States, as established by the American Library Association. We can observe it in Canada too.  We live in a society where we believe everyone should learn to read, that reading is important, and that people should have the right to read what they want to read.  So many of our fundamental rights and freedoms are represented in the fight for educated, literate citizens to have control over what they read.  Sadly, our society also has powerful forces that work against those freedoms.  Sometimes those countering forces are well-meaning, hoping to protect us from lies, hate, propaganda and such. Sometimes these countering forces are even necessary, as we seek to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate material.  Yet a free and vital democracy requires that individuals, not the state, determine what is acceptable reading material and what is not acceptable. Parents must be able to protect their children from the mistakes of society, yet the state must also protect children from the mistakes of their parents. There are no easy answers in all this, yet that is not a reason to shy away from this vital issue.

Banned Books Week

September 21-27 is Banned Books Week in the United States, as established by the American Library Association. We can observe it in Canada too.  We live in a society where we believe everyone should learn to read, that reading is important, and that people should have the right to read what they want to read.  So many of our fundamental rights and freedoms are represented in the fight for educated, literate citizens to have control over what they read.  Sadly, our society also has powerful forces that work against those freedoms.  Sometimes those countering forces are well-meaning, hoping to protect us from lies, hate, propaganda and such. Sometimes these countering forces are even necessary, as we seek to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate material.  Yet a free and vital democracy requires that individuals, not the state, determine what is acceptable reading material and what is not acceptable. Parents must be able to protect their children from the mistakes of society, yet the state must also protect children from the mistakes of their parents. There are no easy answers in all this, yet that is not a reason to shy away from this vital issue.