Banned Books Week 2021 - "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divide Us"
This year’s Banned Books Week theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us”. With a central image showing two hands sharing a book, the 2021 theme is intended to be inclusive and emphasizes the ways in which books and information bring people together, help individuals see themselves in the stories of others, and aid the development of empathy and understanding for people from other backgrounds.
Schedule of Events
| All Week |
OverDrive Special Collection: “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” A collection of banned and challenged titles in ebook and audiobook format. This year’s chosen theme by the American Library Association highlights how “books and information bring people together, help individuals see themselves in the stories of others, and aid the development of empathy and understanding for people from other backgrounds.” Hosted virtually by Hialeah, West, and Wolfson Campus |
| All Week |
Medical Misinformation The Medical Campus will present a brief infomercial on the “State of America’s Libraries 2021” Report from the American Library Association (ALA). Carla Clark and Kelly Hernandez will highlight the role of libraries nationwide in fighting disinformation during the tumultuous year of 2020. As “information first responders,” the ALA was responsible for pointing the public to accurate, unbiased information on COVID-19. Additionally, the ALA combatted the rise in xenophobia and racism due to COVID-19. Libraries across the nation also served as “media mentors” for families, as many children were unable to attend school in person during the COVID-19 crisis. This report highlights ALA’s fight against an infodemic, which will certainly have an impact for many years to come. Hosted virtually by Medical Campus
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| All Week |
Banned Books Week: Book Display Come celebrate Banned Books Week with us in Learning Resources. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Hosted by North CampusLibrary – Room 2101 11380 NW 27th Avenue Miami, FL 33167
Hosted by Meek Center
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| Weeklong |
Welcome (Us) to Your (Own) Library - Take a Library Shelfie! (Coming Soon!) Inviting all students, staff, and the community to share a personal bookcase shelfie-selfie. Add a pet! Dress as a fav literary character and share your own home library! |
| All Week |
Banned Books Week: Book Display We welcome all students to come and view our Banned Books Week window display. You will find a selection of books that different libraries and schools have tried to eliminate due to racial issues, encouragement of “damaging” lifestyles, blasphemous dialog, sexual situations or dialog, violence or negativity, presence of witchcraft, religious affiliations (unpopular religions), political bias, and/or age inappropriateness. Our goal is to celebrate the freedom to read, draw attention to banned and challenged books, and highlighting persecuted individuals. Hosted by West CampusLibrary – Room 1124 and 1125 3800 NW 115th Avenue Doral, FL 33178 |
| All Week |
Where in The World Are Books Banned? Interactive Map Come by the Library to try out our interactive map that can be accessed by computer or by scanning a QR Code on your mobile device, which leads you to a world map where you can find Banned Books throughout the world. In addition, the resource guide "Banned Books: Defending Our Freedom to Read" by Robert P. Doyle. (2017), which was used in making this map, will be available for you to browse and find additionally banned and challenged books. Hosted by Wolfson Campus both virtually and in-person Library – Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132
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| All Week |
Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020 Guessing Game
You are welcome to come by and challenge yourself in a guessing game of the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020 which includes matching book covers to the descriptions of why the book was challenged. Hosted by Wolfson Campus Library – Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132 |
| All Week |
Censorship by the Numbers Display
View infographics on Who, What, Where & Why books are challenged. According to the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, “More than 273 titles were challenged or banned in 2020, with increasing demands to remove books that address racism and racial justice or those that shared the stories of Black, Indigenous, or people of color. As with previous years, LGBTQ+ content also dominated the list.” Hosted by Wolfson Campus Library Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132 |
| 11:00am |
Check out a Banned Book Kick-off “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Let us break the “censorship” cycle, students; come by the library to check out a banned book and receive an Eat Me Guilt Free snack bag while supplies last. Hosted by Wolfson Campus Library – Room 1216 300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132
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| 9:50am |
Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us. Spotlight on The Hate U Give: Presentation by Dr. Adeyiga "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us." Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers. This annual event brings attention to current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Challenged titles and themes will be discussed during this presentation, including the film The Hate U Give, adapted from Angie Thomas's debut novel by the same name and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Hosted virtually by Hialeah Campus
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| 1:00pm |
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The visionary sci-fi, and fantasy author, Octavia Butler, has envisaged an alternate future that foresaw many aspects of life today, from big pharma to resource scarcity to the planet boiling. Fifteen years after her early death, Butler's reputation is soaring. Her novels have been banned from many state and federal American prisons, mostly for creating autonomous, black female protagonists and traversing the landscape of hierarchies, racism, and Afrofuturism. Her world-renowned books challenge traditional gender identity, explore the hybridity and the adaptation of humanity, and offer time travel into the wounds of our history's past to dismantle the ever-present "master's house". The Padrón Campus' Literati Book club will be reading Butler's Parable of the Sower during Banned Books Week to celebrate her perennial stories and further uphold the freedom to read. Hosted virtually by Padrón Campus |
| 11:00am |
Paint for Your Right to Read HEP and Learning Resources collaborate to celebrate Banned Books Week. Stop by the library to paint your favorite banned book cover, title, or character. Art materials will be supplied. Hosted by Homestead Campus
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| 12:00pm |
Banned Books Week: Voices Heard The escape room, display, and information table highlight how books and knowledge can unite us while censorship divides us - presented in collaboration with the Hialeah Campus Student Life department.
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| 9:50am |
Presentation by Steve Kronen Steven Kronen, Faculty Librarian, will present a topic related to Banned Books Week. Mr. Kronen is a published author whose work has appeared in The New Republic, The American Scholar, Poetry, Agni, APR, Little Star, The Georgia Review, Ploughshares, Slate, The Yale Review, and The Threepenny Review. He has received an NEA, three Florida Individual Artist fellowships, the Cecil Henley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, the James Boatwright Award from Shenandoah, fellowships from Bread Loaf, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. Hosted virtually by Meek Center & North Campus |
| 2:05pm |
Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us. Spotlight on The Hate U Give: Presentation by Dr. Adeyiga "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us." Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers. This annual event brings attention to current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Challenged titles and themes will be discussed during this presentation, including the film The Hate U Give, adapted from Angie Thomas's debut novel by the same name and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Hosted virtually by Hialeah Campus |
| 12:00pm |
“Censorship, Citizenship, & Individual Responsibility explores how the prohibition of expression is the breeding ground for dystopian societies and how, in a constant feedback loop, societal censorship leads to internal censorship, dehumanizing both society and the individual." Hosted virtually by West Campus |
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For more information, please contact Ani Rodriguez: 305-237-3568 or arodri57@mdc.edu. |
