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Celebrate the freedom to read with Banned Books Week, Sept. 26 - Oct. 2

Banned Books Week 2021 will be held Sept. 26 – Oct. 2. The theme of this year’s event is “Censorship divides us. Books unite us!”

UA-PTC Ottenheimer Library will be accepting Banned Books Selfies for Banned Books Week. Just take a selfie photo with your favorite book and add a short quote about why it’s your favorite. We encourage you to be creative by dressing as a character or creating a scene from the book reading. Your readings and photos will be featured on social media during Banned Books Week.

There will also be pre-recorded "read-outs" of selections from banned books, to be broadcast on YouTube beginning Thursday, Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. The library needs volunteers to make short recordings of themselves reading from a banned or challenged book. Recordings should be no more than 3 minutes in length and recorded in an appropriate setting.

Selfies and videos should be sent to [email protected]. This year there will be prizes: one for student participants and another drawing for faculty and staff.

The UA-PTC Library Committee will host an “in-person” filming session in the CHARTS theater for anyone that would like to record their reading on stage. Masks are required. In-Person filming dates and times are 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Sept. 22 and 23.

If you need help finding a banned or challenged book, contact Broderick at [email protected].

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, students, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.