A pack horse librarian delivering books in rural Kentucky in 1938. During the Great Depression, the Pack Horse Library Project was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program in which the librarians, who were often called "book women" or "book ladies," delivered books to remote parts of Appalachia.
Today in Labor History March 25, 1957: U.S. Customs seized copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" on obscenity grounds. Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and City Lights manager, Shigeyoshi Murao, were arrested on obscenity charges for publishing and distributing the poem. Howl was inspired, in part, by a terrifying peyote vision Ginsberg had in which the façade of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, in San Francisco, appeared as the monstrous face of a child-eating demon. The obscenity charges stemmed from homophobic responses to his explicit references to homosexuality. Ginsberg’s first experience with LSD, as well as Kerouac’s and Burroughs’s, was with acid provided by the anthropologist Gregory Bateson, one-time husband of and long-time collaborator with Margaret Mead.
Throughout the 24 lectures of Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works, author and book critic Professor Maureen Corrigan of Georgetown University will take you on a tour of some of the most challenged and controversial works of literature, from the plays of Shakespeare to 21st-century best-sellers—even including the dictionary and classic fairy tales.
The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present
Banned Books explores why some of the world's most important literary classics and seminal non-fiction titles were once deemed too controversial for the public to read - whether for challenging racial or sexual norms, satirizing public figures, or simply being deemed unfit for young readers.
120 Banned Books
Censorship Histories of World Literature
Tracing the censorship histories of 120 works from around the world, this volume--expanded from 100 Banned Books--provides a summary of each work, its censorship history and suggestions for further reading.
Censorship has been an ongoing phenomenon even in "the land of the free." This examination of banned books across U.S. history examines the motivations and effects of censorship, shows us how our view of right and wrong has evolved over the years, and helps readers to understand the tremendous importance of books and films in our society.
We just passed the halfway point of our fundraising goal for Banned Books Back! Moms for Liberty, eat your hearts out! 😏
To recap, our collective received a serendipitous donation of children's books that had been removed from Florida schools as part of an ongoing effort to censor titles depicting queer joy, civil rights history, immigrant stories, and more. Right now, our collective is harboring dozens of boxes of these "dangerous" titles — but not for long. Later this month, we'll be calling on our local community to help package bundles and send these Banned Books... Back!
Thank you so much to the folks who have boosted this effort, including but not limited to Autostraddle, The Washington Post, LGBTQ Nation, so many rad bookseller buddies, and the 270+ folks who've donated. 💓
“You don’t even care about her!” he shouted. “All that matters is you and your precious fucking fantasy that you and Alaska had this goddamned secret love affair and she was going to leave Jake for you and you'd live happily ever after. But she kissed a lot of guys, Pudge. And if she were here, we both know that she would still be Jake's girlfriend and that there'd be nothing but drama between the two of you—not love, not sex, just you pining after her and her like, ‘You're cute, Pudge, but I love Jake.' If she loved you so much, why did she leave you that night? And if you loved her so much, why'd you help her go? I was drunk. What's your excuse?"
The Colonel let go of my sweater, and I reached down and picked up the cigarettes. Not screaming, not through clenched teeth, not with the veins pulsing in my forehead, but calmly. Calmly. I looked down at the Colonel and said, "Fuck you."
Yet another way to circumvent those who are trying to ban books has just been announced by Electric Lit, a new program offers free banned books to people in Florida. Through Banned Books USA any resident of the state can order books that have been banned or challenged. They are working to expand the program to other states.
To celebrate libraries and librarians and the good work they do, an interview with Leigh Hurwtz, collections manager at the Brooklyn Public Library about the Books Unbanned program that provides access to banned books to young people anywhere in the US. My local library, Seattle Public Library, joined in earlier this year and now Boston Public Library has also just started offering the program.
The Seattle Public Library's blog has an update on the library's Books Unbanned program with information about the number of young people who have signed up and their quotes about the program.
An Indiana public library is moving 1300 young adult titles to the adult section--making them unavailable to the readers the books were written for, many of whom need those books to survive their lives.
The library is spending over $300,000 just to deny teens the right to read books written for and about them.
Thinking about the first time I read this book and how it helped me give shape to my feelings at the time...
“That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them & normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”
―Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give