banned books week

The Rainbow Book Bus: Book Freedom & Inclusion

 in Banned Book / Books by

You know what you are missing from your life? A bus that brings books that allows everyone to read whatever they want while supporting everyone! If that’s what you need, then you need the Rainbow Book Bus!

I recently came across the Rainbow Book Bus and my goodness am I glad that I did. I love this idea!

According to their website:

“Through our flagship bookmobile program, The Rainbow Book Bus distributes diverse books to communities with reduced access to them. We aim to support and amplify organizations that oppose censorship, promote literacy or empower historically underrepresented storytellers. We work towards educational freedom by fighting existing censorship and reacting to future attacks aimed to reduce access to inclusive stories for young people.”

Their reasoning is to help combat all the book censoring that has been going on recently across the United States.

The bus was designed by queer artists India Torrez and Paco May and the bus is absolutely beautiful!

From their website rainbookbus.org

To learn a little more about this bus, definitely check out this video below!

Their tour has begun and as of 14 March they are in Louisiana and working their way around some southern states. You can check out their tour to see if they’re going to be stopping somewhere nearby! This book bus tour is connected with the opening of Allstora which was created by the absolutely wonderful RuPaul! Their goal with the bus is to give away 10,000 books by the end of the year – specifically books that have been criticized and banned.

I think this is such a fun and engaging way to get awareness out there, help to bring banned/restricted books to others and have some fun while doing it!

Book covers are leaning on the Rainbow Book Bus, a converted school bus whose stop sign has been changed to say “Slay.”

From NY Times post.

Books are for everyone and no one has the right to restrict your access or ban them!

Follow The Rainbook Book Bus and it’s journey on Instagram – I know I will be!

 

 

Book Bans Spiking Over Last School Year [Banned Books Week 2023]

 in Banned Book by

PEN America recently published a report about the spiking in book bans in schools over the last year.

They found that it had spiked 33% in the last year, compared to the previous one.

And which state has the most book bans? Florida, which accounted for 40% of the bans.

Misleading rhetoric like “porn in schools”, “sexually explicit” and “age appropriate” were used as the basis of arguments to remove the material.

What has been one of the drivers of this? Misleading and very vague legislation.

And according to their research,

“In the 153 school districts across the country that banned a book during the 2022-23 school year, 124(81 percent) have a chapter or local affiliate nearby of one or more of the three most prominent national groups pushing for book bans — Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom, and Parents’ Rights in Education. These districts are where 87percent (2,912) of book bans have occurred.”

 

This is a report that I highly recommend that you read, especially if you are a parent of a child in schools.

 

What Is A Book Ban?

 in Banned Book / Books by

As the 1st of October brings Banned Books Week, starting with what exactly a modern book ban to set the stage would be helpful!

Book banning is a form of censorship. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as,

“the practice of prohibiting or restricting the reading of certain books by the general public or by members of a local community or religious group. Books can be banned by means of their removal from publicly accessible locations (e.g, libraries), by their destruction (including the burning of printed books), or by making their authorship or distribution a punishable act.”

The current book bans occurring specifically in the United States come due to a want to censor what people read. Censoring is “the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive” and usually “happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others.”

School book bans are very similar. PEN America defines those as,

“any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.”

Opponents of book bans, like this blog and many other incredible institutions out there like PEN America and United Against Book Bans, argue that the ability to access these books is protected under our First Amendment right.

It should also be highlighted that book bans are NOT the same thing as determining if a book is age appropriate. Book bans remove access to everyone in a determined group/community. Educators choosing to not recommend a book, or read a book, due to some themes for a class due to the age of the class is not a book ban, as those students can still choose to access the book.

Here at MyLibraryCardWoreOut, I fully believe in reading books that are age appropriate. A young teen should not be reading a smut book at all. Parents can make those specific choices for their child due to their individual and personal maturity. The reason for this is while the parent may not want a child to read something, the child can still access the book if they so choose. This is why clearly explaining why you ban a book is important, and I’ll delve into this more later in the week!

But a blanket book ban removing access to books is not acceptable. What is offensive to one person and one family is not offensive to another and removing someone’s ability to access books is seen as an infringement on our First Amendment right.

Banned Books Week 2023: 1-7 October

 in Banned Book / Books by

With a new month rapidly approaching, it means Banned Books Week is right around the corner! With all the book banning going on right now, this year it seems to be bigger than ever.

So many libraries and book stores are having events, pushing out information and encouraging people to speak out. I’ll be posting things as I find them, and head over to my Instagram to see some banned books posts! Also if you’re just looking to keep on top of things, check out @stopbookbans where I really focus on this concern.

But PENAmerica is really active this year and has lots of fantastic information!

They do great research of the general pressure of banning books with really great reports.

And they will be having a day of action of October 7th, so be sure to check it out!

Also, like always, you can go check out some Banned Books to buy here to keep knowledgeable! Knowledge is power!

Banned Books Week 2022 [#FREETHEBOOK]

 in Banned Book / Book Events by

Like always, I’m a little bit late to the party (I’ll blame life and totally not being on-top of it) but this week, 18-24 September, is Banned Book Week.

This week is so incredibly important, although fighting and acknowledging banned books is a constant thing. Especially now.

PEN America, “a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of literature and human rights” [Wikipedia], has recently done some amazing research on what is currently going on.

According to their research:

  • From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.

  • The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether.

The predominant reasons for them being banned are topics to do with LGBTQ+ and protagonists of color – not entirely shocking.

Fiction is primarily targeted as well with YA reads being the main focus.

I highly recommend checking out the really well written report from PEN America to learn a little more, by the numbers, about what is going on!

You can find some great things that YOU are able to do to fight against this. Every small action does matter, so please help in any way that you can.

Reading is so important and, since you are here, I would assume reading is important to you.

While book banning is a huge issue in the USA currently, it is something that happens worldwide and impacts people from all nations. So even if you are not US based, find what is happening locally and help out too!

To learn a little bit more about Book Banning, check out this great FAQ from PEN America!