Fight Book Bans

Christopher Finan, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, has written an op-ed in Publishers Weekly about the need to fight the increasingly frequent and organized book challenges that are occurring in many states.

Amon other things, he writes the following:

. . . once again, the defenders of free expression and the freedom to read are fighting back. During this year’s Banned Books Week—September 18–24—librarians, booksellers, publishers, and authors will again urge the American people to reject censorship. The ALA has just launched a national campaign, Unite Against Book Bans (uniteagainstbookbans.org), to mobilize the solid majority of people who oppose efforts to remove books from schools and public libraries.

The long history of book banning in America gives us reason to hope that the freedom to read will prevail—but only if we fight for it.

Hear, hear! Ebooks are of course a censor’s dream. You can’t steal them or hide them in the stacks like you can print books (as one dogmatic, benighted, undemocratic, and know-nothing organization unworthy of being named here has advocated), but imagine being able to mobilize a community to censor a whole digital service. Thousands of books could be removed all at once. Oh the joy of telling other people what they should be able to read to suit your own narrow-minded beliefs!

RF encourages libraries to build digital bookshelves of Banned Books in their ebook platforms to celebrate Banned Books Week next week and all librarians to join Unite Against Book Bans.

It you don’t fight, someday they WILL come for your library too.