Banned Books Week: A Gift-Giving Occasion

Today marks the beginning of Banned Books Week, which is “an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Held in late September or early October since 1982, the United States campaign “stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them” and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals “persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read.” Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival.”*

Why is Banned Books Week a Gift-Giving Occasion?

When my daughter was in school, she came home and told me that they weren’t allowed to read Fahrenheit 451 in class. I think she was in 8th or 9th grade, at the time.

“Put on your shoes. We’re going to Barnes & Noble,” I said.

I drove to our local Barnes & Noble with the intention of buying her a copy of Fahrenheit 451 and showing her the irony of her school banning it. “I’ll buy it for you, but under one condition: You have to take it to school and read it conspicuously during free reading time.”

“Won’t I get in trouble?” she asked.

“Maybe, but if you do, just politely sit in the principal’s office until I get there.” I envisioned myself raging into the administrative offices like some avenging book-angel, expressing pride in my child’s interest in good literature and deriding an educational institution that could be cowed by sheer ignorance. I was full of righteous indignation and excited at the prospect.

When we got to Barnes & Noble, we found several tables bearing a display of “Banned & Challenged” books – a feast for readers of all ages. I told my daughter that, in addition to Fahrenheit 451, she could pick out anything she wanted from that display. No holds barred. After all, I’d read Jaws (which did not stop me from swimming in the Atlantic), The Exorcist (which did not convince me that demonic possession was real) and perused most of my grandfather’s and uncle’s old back-issues of Playboy Magazine (kept discreetly on an upper shelf in the closet, but I was a tall and nosy child). There, I discovered some top-notch fiction. Naked bodies are all pretty similar, but the short stories published in Playboy were amazing.

If your child’s curious about things, you should be, too – so that you can have an informed, calm, rational discussion with them. If you are pro-book-banning, let me tell you – that is the fastest way to ensure that your child will move heaven and earth to read the thing you don’t want them to read. The only book I didn’t read, as a kid, was Valley of the Dolls. Because my mom asked me nicely not to, and told me I probably wouldn’t enjoy it, anyway. I still haven’t read it or seen the movie. Because I trusted her judgement and the fact that she knew me well. Her request wasn’t an order, and that’s key.

Now, back to Barnes & Noble. I don’t remember what else my child chose to read, but we went home with an armload of new books, the weight of which was compensated for, slightly, by my lightened bank account.

A day or two later, I learned that Fahrenheit 451 wasn’t actually “banned” in her school or class. It just wasn’t going to be required in Language Arts that year. Fun times.

But out of that slight misunderstanding, a tradition was born. And I carry it on, now, even though both my daughter and son are grown and living far from me. I send them Amazon gift certificates and point them towards the latest “Banned and Challenged Books” list. “Read widely and well – and don’t limit it to the US!”

Celebrate! Get Involved! Buy BOOKS!

I do not dispute that parents, who should know their own children best, have a right to know what their children are reading. Again, I would urge them not to make books into “forbidden fruit” unless their aim is to encourage their children to seek out and read books of which they disapprove. The best option is to read the books themselves and tell their children why they would prefer for them to wait before reading them. Wait.

I told my kids to let me know if they accidentally clicked on some of the weirder parts of the Internet. I didn’t yell or scold them if they ran across porn. “I don’t want you thinking that’s what normal love and sex are all about before you’re old enough to experience them naturally.”

And, “If you run across something disturbing or weirdly interesting, let’s talk.” Mostly what they found along such lines were debunked hoaxes involving colorful waffles and cups. I really hope that last one was just brownie mix. But seriously – your kids will find these things, if not at school, at a friend’s house or on a friend’s smartphone. Better to protect them through patient guidance and open communication, not shock, outrage, and authoritarian demands.

More Resources for Banned Books Week

• Banned Books Week | September 22-28, 2024
• American Library Association (ala.org)
• Unite Against Book Bans – Unite Against Book Bans and Toolkit – Unite Against Book Bans

 * Wikipedia contributors, “Banned Books Week,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banned_Books_Week&oldid=1227753490 (accessed September 23, 2024).

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