Banned books read-in

Book Riot notifies us that Libro.fm and Silent Book Club are, for the second year, marking Banned Books Week by organizing read-ins of banned books from October 4th to 10th. More than four hundred libraries and bookshops will be hosting these read-ins. At this link there’s a map which will enable you to find a nearby event. Attendees will be encouraged to take local action: for example preparing for school or library board meetings, writing postcards to representatives, and signing petitions. Participants will receive a free audiobook of either How to Defend Books and Why: Book Bans and How We Fight Them by Danny Caine, or Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers’ Rights edited by Ashley Hope Pérez. We seem to not be able to get over this urge to suppress writing which doesn’t reflect our beliefs/prejudices. Laws get passed, librarians get threatened, and books get pulled off shelves. It all seems so counterproductive to me — calling attention to a book by demanding it be banned just…