[vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_single_image image=”2788″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space hide_on_wide=”” hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=””][vc_empty_space hide_on_wide=”” hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_single_image image=”2789″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_column_text]This year’s Banned Books Week theme is “Censorship is a Dead End. Find Your Freedom to Read.” Censorship limits exploration and creates barriers to access information. The path toward the freedom to read starts at the library.
History
The following is from the American Libraries Magazine article 50 Years of Intellectual Freedom, written by OIF staff celebrating the office’s anniversary.
Banned Books Week was launched in the 1980s, a time of increased challenges, organized protests, and the Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case, which ruled that school officials can’t ban books in libraries simply because of their content.
Banned books were showcased at the 1982 American Booksellers Association (ABA) BookExpo America trade show in Anaheim, California. At the entrance to the convention center towered large, padlocked metal cages, with some 500 challenged books stacked inside and a large overhead sign cautioning that some people considered these books dangerous.
For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit their website at https://bannedbooksweek.org/.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_single_image image=”2790″ img_size=”700×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”80″ hide_on_wide=”” hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_single_image image=”2791″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]