What Is the Point of Banning Books?

I have always loved to read.

When we were kids, bedtime was 9 p.m., but we could stay up an extra 30 minutes if we were reading. I chose reading.  I probably owe my mom thousands of dollars for the countless Tiger Beat magazines I asked her to buy at the grocery store promising to pay her back when we got home. I’m making it up to her now by sharing my People magazine subscription with her.

I always have a book (or two) on the nightstand, one audible book for when I walk Hildy in the mornings and then the current book club book.

I’m puzzled that book banning is still a thing. Books open up the world, take us on adventures, introduce us to interesting people and places, challenge us to think about new and different things.  Sure, there is subject matter that may be inappropriate for kids of a certain age, but that doesn’t mean the book should be banned from the public library.

The music industry works with recording artists to voluntarily label their work as “explicit.”  Common Sense Media reviews countless books, movies, and apps providing parents with valuable information to help them decide what is and isn’t appropriate for their kids.

Shouldn’t the same be said for books?

October 1-7 is Banned Books Week. Founded in 1982, Banned Books Week draws attention to the attempts to remove books and other materials from libraries, schools, and bookstores. The 2023 Banned Books Week theme “Let Freedom Read” is a call to action about the urgent need to defend the right to read and to support the community of readers, library staff, educators, authors, publishers, and booksellers.

What’s next on your reading list?