Since its inception in 1982, Banned Books Week has served as an opportunity to showcase and learn from challenged literature. According to librarian Daljeet Gill, Gunn’s library staff celebrates Banned Books Week by displaying prominent and lesser-known works that have been banned or challenged over the years. “I think it’s an opportunity for, particularly this library, to put up books that may not get as much attention,” he said. “There are some classics, but there are also some books that are somewhat new that may not get checked out too much, and when you put it up there, it may draw some attention.”
The banned books on display are all literary works that have been restricted from many classrooms and school libraries nationwide for containing themes that have been deemed inappropriate for students. According to Gill, these books are usually banned
by small, local groups who make a lot of noise and push their concerns up to legislators. Gill believes learning about what goes into banning titles is one of the added values of the Banned Books Week display — it not only sheds light on the books themselves, but educates students on the motivations behind the bans and the ways bans inform the societal and political culture around what should be taught in schools.
For Gill, there is a fine line between responsible library curation and the banning of literature. While some books do contain content too mature for a high school library, Gill strongly supports their presence in public ones. It’s a different story, however, when books are written to be harmful. "I’m not really in favor of banning anything unless here’s a lot of misinformation that could cause people to take drastic, extreme measures that have no scientific backing,” he said. “There are books where I don’t think they should be in a lot of places because it’s disseminating information that might be (purposefully) misleading.”
Gill noted that popular books are the main targets for banning, from classics with complex subject matters to modern stories with more diverse representation. “A lot of the more recent books that are most challenged are (those that have) anything to do with racial and social justice (or) dealing with LGBTQ protagonists — books that are trying to show different perspectives,” he said. “There’s a clear agenda that comes with it.”
Gill also emphasized the value of teaching banned literature. Many of the books he taught as a former English teacher were banned at one point or are still banned in many places. “I’d usually incorporate why there is such a big reason to try to ban the book (and) if (the ban) was successful or not,” he said. “I tried to utilize (the controversy) to try to connect it to why we still teach it today.”
Gunn, due to its location in left-leaning Silicon Valley, has faced fewer challenges acquiring banned books for its classrooms and library shelves. Gill, along with fellow library staff members, screens new additions to the library for inappropriate topics, from material inappropriate for high schoolers to hateful underlying messages. A form for reporting unsuitable content is available to students in the library.
Although books are usually banned to keep them out of schools, the act can also spotlight them. “(Banning books) takes away the ability for somebody else to really see what (life) is like for that person,” he said. “But sometimes, it does the opposite and shines a light on a book, and then people want to go and see what it’s all about.”
—Written by Violet Tivol
Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is banned due to sexually explicit and violent content and glorification of criminal activity.
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