Banned Books Week

This week was Banned Books Week in the US.  This was my first year really doing anything to bring attention to it.  I was both impressed and surprised at the great discussions it generated over the course of the week, although I will admit I got a little tired of reassuring kids that the books on the display were NOT in fact BANNED in our library.  It was also a week of lessons on how to say the word Banned rather than "banded" for my younger students :)

 I dedicate the most time discussing the reasoning behind Banned Books Week with my 5th and 6th grade students and we talked through what Intellectual Freedom means for them as students and me as a librarian.  I also gave a short overview of why the display was there to my 3rd and 4th grade students and to reassure them again that these were book available to checkout in the library!

I think aside from bringing attention to the fact that we all have the right to read what we choose, it also opens the doors for talking about things that we often mark at taboo or not something we talk about and that is a good thing, but can also be scary too.  I ensure my students that while the are free to read what they want, and it is my job to ensure the library has a diverse collection of types of life, ways of living, belief systems, etc. they also have the right to stop reading something if it makes them uncomfortable.

I had put together a slide deck that I shared with my amazing colleagues in our district and the final deck shows the power or sharing and collaborating with others!