What do we do when we are

faced with a complicated or

uncomfortable piece of information?

For many of us the act of creating art, of all forms, allows us to process and reflect on the feelings these subjects trigger and provide an opportunity to share our ideas with others. For many more of us, engaging with these works provides us a pathway to learn through the experiences of others. Being equipped with knowledge and understanding of the perspectives of others only serves to strengthen and expand our own viewpoints in order to engage more fully with our community.

Why would anyone

want to hinder

this exchange?

School boards voting to ban books is not a new development in our country but this most recent push unfortunately seems to be aimed at taking timely and important tools out of the hands of our educators in a moment when both they and our students need all the resources they can get. Allowing those who act out of fear, under the guise of protecting students, control what ideas are permissible in the classroom does us all a disservice.

 So what can we do?

  • Talk about banned books.

  • Give banned books to teachers and students in your community.

  • Support and celebrate the work of educators.

  • Repeat.

Learn more about the issues surrounding banned books by visiting Pen America.