banned books Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Stealing from an APL email – check with your local library for more info:

The Albany Public Library always supports the freedom to read. But we put extra emphasis on this foundational belief during Banned Books Week (10/5-11) with programs and displays designed to draw attention to the dangers of censorship and encourage our community to stand up for the right to read. Please join us!

“I’m with the Banned” Book Display | Oct. 1-31 during open hours | Washington | For ages 0-18 | Check out a banned book and get a Stewart’s ice cream coupon.

Read for Your Rights: A Banned Books Readout | Oct. 7 at 6 pm | Washington | For teens and adults | Local artists, musicians, actors, and authors read selections from banned and challenged books that highlight the democratic freedoms of speech and expression. | Program partners: NYCLU Capital Region, League of Women Voters of Albany County, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, and Delta Sigma Theta Albany Alumnae Chapter.

Visit APL branches to view Banned Books Week displays and borrow books that have been banned or challenged in other cities.

To that end, the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 from the American Library Association. Every year, the American Library Association compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books based on reports from the field and media coverage.

Unite Against Book Bans

The 2025 Banned Books Week theme — Censorship Is So 1984 — couldn’t be more timely and urgent. As many predicted, 2021’s explosion of community book banning has escalated beyond the point of crisis. Federal government censorship is now dominating the headlines.

This moment demands unprecedented visibility, advocacy, and action.

During Banned Books Week—and especially on Saturday, October 11, the Let Freedom Read Day of Action—we must make noise together. Here’s how we can stand up:

Defend our fundamental rights to read and speak freely by proudly using them.
Speak out on behalf of those already targeted, intimidated, or silenced. Read and share their stories.
Voice your concerns about censorship in a letter to the editor or by calling your elected representatives. Ask them to defend the right to read in your community.
Gather to support our libraries and librarians, teachers and students, authors and bookstores.

Courage may feel scarce, but it spreads when we model it. We must be bold, visible, and act now. Will you lend your voice and call upon others to join this fight?

Unite Against Book Bans is proud to partner with Public School Strong to connect Banned Books Week events with advocates nationwide. Through a new interactive calendar and map, communities can share, discover, and support local efforts to defend the freedom to read.

DelSo: The Librarians and the fight for free speech

APL Book Reviews and other special events

These are all on Tuesdays at 2 pm at the Washington Avenue auditorium, 161 Washington Avenue.

October 7 | Special Program | Alex Ashby & Amy Walsh of the Albany Water Department discuss Sustainable Forest Management for Water Quality.

October 14 | Book Review | The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging by Julia Hotz. Reviewer: Melanie Metzger, assistant director, APL.

October 21 | Book Review | Germinal by Émile Zola. Reviewer: Carl Strock, author & award-winning journalist.

October 28 | Special Program | Andrea Nicolay, Executive Director of APL, will talk about the APL and Current Events.

A friend of mine who is on the board of trustees of the Albany Public Library told me about an action taken by the board at their November 8, 2022, meeting. The trustees signed on to the “Unite Against Book Bans” campaign of the American Library Association.

The document – I will email anyone the blank PDF form – begins, “We are organizations representing parents, educators and librarians, students and readers, authors and publishers, community and advocacy organizations, businesses and workers, nonprofits and faith groups, elected officials and civic leaders, and concerned citizens who are united against book bans.”

It shares a lot of cool stuff about reading as a “foundational skill.” “Books are tools for understanding complex issues” and “Individuals should be trusted to make their own decisions about what to read.”

“However, efforts to ban books, especially in schools and libraries, are occurring in unprecedented numbers across the country.” The number of books removed or restricted nearly tripled between 2019 and 2021.

“What is also shocking is the rise in state and local legislation which will make censorship easier, or even allow the criminal prosecution of librarians or teachers for simply doing their jobs– ensuring the public has access to a variety of ideas and perspectives. We fear that the centers of knowledge for families and communities are in jeopardy.”

Doctorow

Around the same time, Cory Doctorow wrote about “the American right-wing’s new focus on killing libraries.” It’s on Medium, and you might not be able to access it unless you’re a member. I’m going to provide some internal links, though. Let’s start with the pull quote. “Libraries are the last place in America where you are valued for your personhood rather than the contents of your wallet. At the library, you are a patron, not a customer.”

Doctorow writes: “Behind the anti-library movement is a demand for extraordinarily invasive government control over parenting.”

Here’s a “fantastic interview with incoming American Library Association president Emily Drabinski and it’s a must-listen masterclass in understanding what libraries mean and why wealthy right-wing media barons would want to destroy them.”

PEN America and, of course, the ALA also have much useful information. PEN America is the source of much of Alan Singer’s article about book bans in Missouri.

If you belong to an organization, I would like you to consider bringing the ALA campaign to the group. I will try to get my church on board since the trustee who brought the topic to my attention is also a church member.

When Kelly linked to the Doctorow article, he wrote, “You want to get me marching in the streets? Trying to kill my library might do it.” As the cliche goes, don’t mourn, organize!

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