Media Theory Students Celebrate Banned Books Week: Sept. 24-30

Many people nationwide participated in Banned Books Week which was held Sept. 24-30. Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read across the country.

Banned Books Week originated in 1982 by Judith Krug. Krug’s goal for Banned Books Week was to bring awareness to the American public of challenged literary works while also encouraging intellectual freedom in schools, libraries and workplaces. Since its initial start in 1982, Banned Books Week is now sponsored by organizations such as American Library Association, American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Association of American Publishers.

Specifically at Wilson, with the help of Dr. Long’s Media Theory class, Banned Books Week was celebrated with a read out, a movie showing, and displays that were shown in the library.

“I personally enjoyed actually being a part of Banned Books Week, like helping out and making the posters. I also enjoyed hearing the stories that were read, because some were interesting and some of them I was surprised were banned,” said Ashley Henderson ‘18.

Many students from Dr. Long’s class expressed the importance of Banned Books Week.

“Banned Books Week is important because it brings awareness to what can get censored in our society. When people see that their favorite books have been banned, it creates discussion about why these books have been banned and whether or not they think it was done for a valid reason. It gets people to question the censorship. I am still shocked that some of my favorite books, like Harry Potter for instance, are on the list,” stated communications student Tiffany Cobb ‘19.

Banned Books Week seemed to be very popular on campus. Numerous students and faculty came to the read-out which was held in the Lenfest Learning Commons of the Library.

“I think Banned Books Week went well. I think starting a new event on campus can be hard but I think with a little more advertising and excitement around the events, Banned Books Week could be a campus wide success,” Cobb said.

Overall, Banned Books Week was a successful event on campus. Students and faculty were given the ability to express their opinions over books which are contested. It will be interesting to see what all will be planed next fall for Banned Books Week 2018.