On Sept. 24, the Mt. SAC Writing Center hosted its Banned Book Carnival — just one of the events being hosted for Banned Book Week taking place this week — to bring awareness to book banning nationwide.
In building 9C, the Writing Center hosted its 2nd annual Banned Book Week Carnival. The center provided various activities, including banned book trivia, bingo, arts and crafts and a read-a-thon – where students could read current books on the banned list or that are being challenged. Many students gathered to play games with prizes, enjoy popcorn and snacks provided by the center and socialize with one another, all to spread awareness of banned books.
According to BannedBookWeek.org, Banned Book Week was launched in 1982 to counter the rise in book challenges and banning in schools, libraries and bookstores. According to the American Library Association, when a book is challenged, it’s an attempt to remove or restrict materials based on a group or person who disagrees with its content; when a book is banned, it is officially removed from libraries. Some examples of books that are facing banning or have been banned include “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M Johnson, “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephan Chbosky.
According to The New York Times, these are only a few books that are part of an extensive list of books that have been challenged to be banned or wholly banned in schools across the country. They were chosen based on their going into topics of sexual identity, gender identity, sexual assault, social equality and racism. Many parents feel that these topics are unsuitable for children and should be removed from school libraries, and parents should have a say in their children’s reading. Opposing parents, educators and librarians have spoken about the bans and voiced that removing these books also removes student knowledge and visibility. Many books that deal with sexual orientation or gender identity give students who can relate to these topics visibility in the literature they are reading. They can relate to the characters and feel they better understand themselves.
Many argue that when books are challenged or banned, it isn’t fair to others because the idea of something being explicit is subjective and banning a book takes it away from others and is a form of censorship.
Sophia O’Brien, an adjunct faculty member in the English department, discussed her stance on censorship, why it’s essential to inform people about banned books and how banning books based on LGBTQ+ or social equality leads to readers losing a sense of self in the literature they consume.
“It lends to inaccessibility to students or people, in general, to become aware and knowledgeable of diverse types of text,” O’Brien said. “Banning books is the same idea as banning knowledge; one of the biggest consequences for younger students is that they don’t know books are being banned, and I don’t believe it’s the school’s district’s right to decide what students can read.”
O’Brien explained how the loss of self can lead to readers losing identification with their books and diminishing their views of themselves.
“One of the books we highlight is a memoir called ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir,’ and talks about this person’s journey and discovery of being non-binary,” O’Brien said. “For somebody to identify with that, to see that story is being banned and censored and not allowed to be told, I could imagine that would have a huge effect on how they are being perceived by other people in this world.”
A student who asked to remain anonymous attended the Banned Book Carnival and gave his opinion on book banning, saying that he believes the government should not have a say in what people can read or not read.
“It goes with the constitution, freedom of speech,” he said. “The government shouldn’t have the right to tell you what to do or not to do.”
Overall, the Book Banning Carnival showcased an array of literature with conversations of censorship and banning circling it; the topic of systems in power having the ability to facilitate what we read continues.