And the Teen Council on Intellectual Freedom here at BPL is just one of the ways libraries across the country have been responding.Īdwoa Adusei Today on Borrowed, we’re looking at the current state of censorship at public and school libraries, taking a look back at our own response to banned books over the past 125 years, and how BPL can help flip the script on censorship. Krissa Corbett Cavouras The narrative on banned and challenged books has been gaining wider traction in the news lately, with an uptick in banning happening across the US. Obviously, it's a big trend across the country and wanting to learn about ways that I could contribute and help and learn more about the issue. And I think I was just sort of curious about this from a personal perspective. But my local library system, which is the DeKalb County Public Library, has done a great job in incorporating a lot of different books and diverse voices. Krissa Corbett Cavouras And here’s Beatrix, calling in from Georgia.īeatrix I sort of grew up-I feel like for me, at least half or more of the books that I've ever read have probably been banned at some point, or at least challenged. That way, if she came across a person with a different identity or perspective that is different from hers, she wouldn’t say the wrong thing or give offense without meaning to. Like how there's a rating with movies, that sort of thing?Īdwoa Adusei One teen calling from Tennessee said that she wanted to be able to have access to different perspectives so that she could understand them. Hey, this book may be a bit sensitive.Īdwoa Adusei Yeah. And this could apply to like, oh, if the book has violence or maybe something that could be inappropriate, just make sure that it's like told to the audience. So, I think that rather than censoring them, there should be sort of a warning instead. Here’s Anay, also from New York.Īnay In one of our previous councils, we talked about how books can be sort of challenged, not because it's political thing, but maybe because, like, someone thinks the content is outdated or misleading or factually inaccurate.
But, the young people on this council are asking hard questions of the validity of banning books and thinking of solutions to push back against this for future generations. So that's over 100 years of people censoring library collections. Krissa Corbett Cavouras And several of Morrison’s books have graced banned books lists almost as soon as they were published. Gabas I mean, yes, it touches up on sensitive topics, but I wouldn't see a reason why to ban it because it like prompts you to really think deeply and think about how like outside factors, especially during that time period, affected people and their thought processes.Īdwoa Adusei Banned and challenged books are nothing new in America, with some of the earliest challenges to what we now think of as classics starting in the early 20th century, with Jame’s Joyce’s Ulysses being burned in America and Ireland staring in 1918. It’s called the Intellectual Freedom Teen Council and its main purpose is to give other teens access banned books. A few weeks ago, we sat down with a small but growing group of teens dedicated to promoting intellectual freedom here in Brooklyn and across the US. Gabas It was shocking to find out that that was banned in some states because I was like, I was looking back at the book and I was thinking, what's wrong with the book?Īdwoa Adusei That was Gabas from New York City, talking about Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Listen to Well-Read Black Girl on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen.** It's the literary kick back you never knew you needed.
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