This September, the Elizabethtown College High Library is hosting an interactive exhibit in celebration of Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrated by educational communities and institutions across the U.S. Its purpose is to honor and recognize the freedom to read and publish, as well as highlight current and past attempts at censorship.

The exhibit will explore the different aspects of book bans and censorship, along with  the reasoning behind why many published and acclaimed books are challenged in America.

This year’s Banned Books Week theme, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.”

Instruction and Outreach Librarian Josh Cohen played a large role in organizing the exhibit along with Library Director Sarah Penniman and other library staff including Jen Strain and Susan Krall.

“I think that it’s a useful slogan,” Cohen said. “Access to books (even controversial ones) is an important part of intellectual freedom. And book bans are a form of censorship that can have a negative impact on our culture and public institutions (like schools and libraries).”

The exhibit focuses on some prominent books from the banned books list, including “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, and last year’s most banned book, “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe.

The exhibit will take place in the IDEA lab, located on the first floor of the High library, and will remain on display for guests until the end of September.

“The issue of book banning is certainly not new, but it has gained attention and headlines in the past year or so because of its increased prevalence in the U.S.,” Cohen said. “The ALA noted recently that last year there were more book bans or book ban attempts than there have been since they started keep[ing] track of these numbers 20 years ago. So, this has become a serious problem.”

Cohen concluded, “The freedom to read is a cornerstone of a free society, and we need to be engaged with the issue because it does have a significant cultural impact, especially on students in our public schools.”

For more information on Banned Books Week and how to get involved, go to https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned.