The D.C. Public Library system is hosting a week of events discussing and celebrating books that have been or are currently banned in parts of America as communities and school boards debate the issue of censorship.
Banned Books Week is an annual event in which libraries throughout the country celebrate "the freedom to read." Libraries are marking the occasion Sept. 18-24 this year, and some D.C. libraries will have events beginning Sept. 19.
Last year, the Spotsylvania County School Board in Virginia voted in favor of banning what they called "sexually explicit books."
"I have a message from every single student sitting in this crowd to these school board members: You have failed us. You have failed, every single one of you, and I hope you know it," a student told the school board last year.
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Spotsylvania School Board Chair Kirk Twigg, then a board member, went so far as to suggest burning books.
"I'm sure we got hundreds of people out there who would like to see those books before we burn 'em," Twigg said.
The head of the D.C. Public Library system said he shuddered at hearing those words from a public official.
"I mean, it's heartbreaking. I’ve been a librarian now for 27 years, and I never dreamed in the 90s or when I was younger that we would be in 2022 and we would have what you just described: book burning, book banning, thought suppression," D.C. Public Library Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan said.
While the book ban was dropped in Spotsylvania County, jurisdictions across the country have banned books in recent years.
D.C. Public Library, however, will celebrate books that have been banned in other places.
"It's very important now with people across the country trying to tell people what they can and cannot read. Libraries are first-amendment institutions. We believe in the freedom to read. We believe in the freedom to access of information, and we're going down a very slippery slope," Reyes-Gavilan said.
He said censorship can also make some groups of people feel further ostracized from society.
"LGBTQ books across the country are being banned. 'Gender Queer' is number one on most banned books lists, and these titles are really important for people who are trying to discover who they are," Reyes-Gavilan said.
Go here for a schedule of D.C. Public Library Banned Books Week events and more information about the top 10 banned books.
