THE HARRY & JEANETTE WEINBERG MEMORIAL LIBRARY
update
SPRING 2012 • Vol.1 Issue 1
A Newsletter from The Weinberg Memorial Library SPRING 2024
Schemel Forum Lecture: Book Bans and Censorship On Oct. 30, Tracie D Hall, former Executive Director of the American Library Association, gave an engaging and active lecture regarding book bans and censorship. Hall discussed the history of censorship within the United States and the current environment regarding book bans and challenges. The American Library Association has tracked the banning and challenging of books in the U.S. since 1990. An unprecedented number of bans and challenges were raised over the past few years. 2021 saw 1,858 unique book titles challenged (up from only 223 in 2020), and in 2022, 2,571 titles were challenged. These numbers have only increased in 2023 (the final numbers had not yet been released by ALA at the time of this article’s publication). While Florida and Texas are leading the current efforts in book banning, Pennsylvania is not immune to the issue, with 302 reported unique titles challenged in 2022. Unfortunately, an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of titles being challenged are books by or about LGBTQ individuals or people of color. Hall highlighted this
disparity and questioned why attempts are being made to silence these voices. As part of her presentation, she shared individual examples of books that have been heavily challenged and on what grounds, Dean George Aulisio with Tracie D. Hall
pointing out how bias, prejudice and fear are highly influencing these decisions. One example shared was The Hill We Climb by poet laureate Amanda Gorman, which was restricted by a Florida school due to a parent (continued on page 3)