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U.S. Constitution Day: Censorship & Banned Books Week

This LibGuide supports the observance of U.S. Constitution Day, the September Project, and National Banned Books Week.

 

Ellen Hopkin's Poem "Manifesto"

Manifesto

To you zealots and bigots and false
patriots who live in fear of discourse.
You screamers and banners and burners
who would force books
off shelves in your brand name
of greater good.

You say you're afraid for children,
innocents ripe for corruption

by perversion or sorcery on the page.
But sticks and stones do break
bones, and ignorance is no armor.
You do not speak for me,
and will not deny my kids magic
in favor of miracles.

You say you're afraid for America,
the red, white, and blue corroded
by terrorists, socialists, the sexually
confused. But we are a vast quilt
of patchwork cultures and multi-gendered
identities. You cannot speak for those
whose ancestors braved
different seas.

You say you're afraid for God,
the living word eroded by Muhammed
and Darwin and Magdalene.
But the omnipotent sculptor of heaven
and earth designed intelligence.
Surely you dare not speak
for the father, who opens
his arms to all.

A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.

American Library Association poster based upon Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, a book that has been challenged because it was believed that the book "criminalized the forestry industry."

Read a Banned Book

Censorship

Books - Media Censorship (Film, Television, Radio, Music and Theatre)

This is a select list that reflects the variety of resources in the Library's book collection on the topic of censorship.

A number of Toni Morrison's works have been banned or challenged including The Bluest Eye and Beloved.

Books - Circulating Collection

This is a select list that reflects the variety of resources in the Library's book collection on the topic of censorship.