In honor of Banned Books Week, Eugene Public Library invites everyone to celebrate our Constitutional right to read, listen to, view, write, create, and otherwise experience or express whatever we choose.
During the last week of September, visit any Library location - Downtown, Bethel, or Sheldon - to pick up a free "I Read Banned Books" pin and/or bookmark. And join in these free events:
Teens: Black-Out Poetry
Monday, September 23, 3:00, Downtown Library
Teens: get creative with “censorship” and create black-out poetry. Using existing printed pages of text and a marker, black out some words so only those you choose will remain to be read as a poem. Add art to intensify the effect.
Banned Books Week Storytime and Crafts for Grown Ups
Tuesday, September 24, 6:00, Downtown Library
Adults: get together to make themed tote bags and buttons, listen to passages from favorite banned books, and learn which books are most frequently challenged and why.
Teen Book Group
Thursday, September 26, 4:00, Downtown Library
Teens: find out why this month’s book has been banned, hidden, and even set on fire. Pick up your copy of “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan at the Downtown Teen Desk starting September 1.
Teens: Make LED Bookmarks
Friday, September 27, 3:00, Downtown Library
Teens: make LED light-up bookmarks. As the American Library Association says, “Censorship leaves us in the dark, but reading banned books sparks a light.”
All-Ages Banned Books Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, September 28, drop in anytime 10:00 – 6:00, Downtown Library
All ages: solve the clues to learn about Banned Books Week and win prizes!
More about Banned Books Week:
Many people are under the impression that attempted censorship is a thing of the past or that “it doesn’t happen here.” In fact, individuals and groups continue to request -- or demand -- that public or school libraries remove or restrict access to particular books, music, films, and other resources.
Banned Books Week focuses on these efforts to remove or restrict access to books in order to draw attention to the harms of censorship. The books featured during Banned Books Week are titles that have been targeted for removal or restriction. Additionally, Banned Books Week celebrates the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available precisely because people stood up and spoke out for the freedom to read.
Banned Books Week highlights the value of free and open access to information. The project brings together the entire book community –- readers, writers, students, librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, journalists –- in shared support of the value of free and open access to information.
To learn more about challenges to free speech and how to protect this essential right, visit:
OIF - American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom
ACLU - Free Speech