4,240.
That is how many books were banned in the past year in the US, according to the American Library Association.
Two years ago in freshman year I read “Speak” By Laurie Halse Anderson.
The freshman today do not read this in class.
This book among many is being taken off of school bookshelves around the country due to “inappropriate content.” Yet many also contain great life lessons that are invaluable to students. “Speak” can still be located in the school’s media center.
While not super common here, “Speak” is one of the first examples within recent history. “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is a book part of the 10th grade curriculum and has also been noticed nationwide to be removed from school bookshelves.
Within these novels there are many that don’t even have the content that book banners are claiming it has.
A large amount of books contains content surrounding the LGBTQ+ community and/or people of color. They also have content regarding victims of sexual assault.
The continually growing pile of books that are being added is quite concerning.
We are removing these books from the shelves.
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” “1984” by George Orwell.
The facts still stand, who controls the writings control the past, present, and future.
These books have seemingly nothing wrong, get banned because a certain demographic is represented?
Power and bigotry.
More Can Be Found With The American Library Association at: https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
