‘Banned Books’ event to raise awareness of censorship

IUP students will mark Banned Books week at Stapleton Library Wednesday at 1 p.m.

“Read Out” will take place on the library steps in honor of last week being the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week. 

It is sponsored by a collaboration of five students in Tanya Heflin’s English 340: Banned Books and Dangerous Fictions course, along with the IUP Libraries and Dr. Heflin, herself.

All involved are hoping for a good amount of people to attend and witness the Read Out of the banned books.

Students, faculty and staff who love and appreciate the freedom of reading are encouraged to attend  “Read Out” and see what it is all about.

“It’s really exciting that this is the first time we’ve done this at IUP,” Carrie McGraw (senior, English) said. 

Students and faculty will be reading passages from books that have been previously banned.

Participation is strongly encouraged.  

There will be opportunities for additional students and faculty to read excerpts from their favorite banned books, taking a stand against the censorship of literature.

Examples of some of the surprising books that have been banned include “James and the Giant Peach,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “The Great Gatsby,” and many more.

“We’ve got tons of people        emailing, faculty, grad students and everyone is wanting to come over and read,” McGraw said. “It’s really important just because so many people don’t know that things like ‘The Lorax’ are banned, and it’s really surprising because ‘why would that ever be banned?’”

“This project is a way for students to take what we’re talking about in class to reach the rest of the community,” Heflin said.  “It’s been going on for thirty years by the Language Association just trying to raise awareness about the problems of censorship and the wide range of things that get banned and denied access.”

There will also be prepared passages from various banned books arranged for volunteer readers.

“I’m really excited for this event because my peers and professor Heflin have really joined together to bring Banned Books Week to the IUP campus,”  Laken Tassos McDonald (senior, English) said. “It’s going to be a really exciting event because it really publicizes the freedom to read banned books that have been censored or challenged.”