Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week Display. Some rights reserved
We’ve all been thinking and talking a lot about banned books in the last month, so it seems especially fitting that Banned Books Week will be taking place worldwide from 27 September to 3 October.
The focus in 2015 is on Young Adult titles, which made up six of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2014, according to the American Library Association.
This will certainly come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the headlines about Ted Dawe’s Into the River. Sharing the Office of Film & Literature Classification’s case study for Into the River would be a great way to generate discussion with students and staff and kick start your Banned Books Week celebrations.
While the timing this year is not ideal for New Zealand schools, the Virtual Read-Out offers a great way to participate before or after the actual event. The criteria asks you to create a video featuring either:
A reading from a banned or challenged book
A discussion of what a particular banned or challenged book means to you
An eyewitness account of a local challenge to a book
A promotional video for Banned Books Week.
Past videos can be found on the Banned Books Week site, along with celebrity videos of favourite authors reading from a banned or challenged book of their choice. Videos can be shared at any time throughout the year and we would love to see what you and your students create, so please share in the comments or email us a link.
If you are in further need of inspiration try doing a Twitter search for #bannedbooksweek and check out what other people all around the world are planning.
School Library Journal’s Banned Books Week Pinterest board is another great resource, particularly for display ideas.
What have you done to celebrate Banned Books Week in the past? What are your plans for 2015?