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Librarians have long been on the front lines of the censorship debates, and these debates have only intensified over the last several years. According to PEN America, current book-banning levels dwarf previous records, with 22,810 instances of book bans in public schools between 2021-2025.
With tomorrow’s temperatures falling, we’re channeling Fahrenheit 451 vibes and holding our first-ever Book Bonfire tomorrow! We will gather in the library garden at 7pm. We invite you to bring your own books to contribute to the blaze. Dedicated volunteers have already “weeded” many books from the library shelves for the bulk of the fuel. Though some of these titles are beloved classics (eg. Beloved by Toni Morrison is regularly challenged in school districts), we feel that removing these controversial books will ultimately help us navigate the future unencumbered by any painful histories or past wrongs.
As with most book-banning efforts, we’ve focused our attention on pulling books by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors from the shelves to create a more homogenous and exclusionary feeling at our library!
See you tomorrow, April 2nd, the day after April Fools! |
