Collin College professors sought to raise awareness of censorship with a Banned Books Week presentation, Sept. 26 at the Frisco Campus.
Featuring readings by students and staff members, a trivia contest and an informative presentation on some of the most challenged books of the year, the event was part of a nationwide effort to shed light on continued attempts to curtail free speech.
“Each year, thousands of books are challenged,” Dr. Diana Gingo told the room full of students, staff and faculty. “People have been put on trial, had their lives threatened and even ended because they wanted their words to be read and heard.”
The purpose of the week is not to discourage parents from helping identify appropriate reading material for their children. Rather, it is to remind people that there is still a threat of books deemed “inappropriate” by one group or another being banned and therefore unavailable to all people.
Hundreds of libraries, bookstores and educational institutions across the country observed the week with events like this one. Collin College has been participating in Banned Books Week since 2013. This year’s event included displays of books which had been challenged and banned in different areas of the country. A “challenge” to a book is an attempt to remove or restrict that book based on the objections of a person or group. A book is considered “banned” when those efforts are successful and a book is pulled from the shelves of an institution. Most challenges are unsuccessful.
Learn more about challenged and banned books, as well as more about Banned Books Week at the American Library Association website. The above video was provided by the ALA an shown at Collin College’s Banned Books Week event.