This year, the American Library Association has come out with a new theme for Freedom to Read Week: “Censorship is so 1984.”
The theme alludes to the book “1984” by George Orwell.
Brittany Sharitz, librarian, said this year’s Freedom to Read week will include a book club of both students and staff members reading “1984.” The book club will meet during Mod 2 of Ac Lab on Thursday, Oct.
It’s not the first student and staff book club.
“The book last time dealt with the Vietnam war,” Sharitz said. “Since students weren’t alive for that and don’t have any personal connections, they liked hearing some of the teachers stories they could tell about family members or things from that time period.”
Sharitz said these book clubs can be a good way to widen people’s perspectives, but ultimately it is up to the students’ families as to what they are allowed to read.
“We do want to clarify that librarians fully support parents and families making decisions on what’s appropriate for their own students,” Sharitz said. “We just also support that in public schools there should be materials for your variety of students, so Freedom to Read Week kind of focuses on that aspect piece.”
Sharitz said reading books can also be a very safe way to learn about different opinions.
“It’s not so in my face. I can shut the book, I can take breaks from it, I can look up information that I don’t agree with, it’s not as in your face as a lot of our social media and news media feel, ” Sharitz said.
Sharitz said she wants to give all students the opportunity to experience books that are more diverse.
“We are hoping that students will enjoy this opportunity to read about varying perspectives and then hear different perspectives in the book club,” Sharitz said.
Katie Rafferty, freshman, said she was excited to join the Freedom to Read book club.
“I just kept my eye out, and low and behold there was a book club for a book I have been meaning to read. So I joined it on my own.” Katie said.
Katie said that she would recommend reading every banned book that one can.
“So far, these banned books are the most impactful books I have read,” Katie said.
Ray Mabie, sophomore, has been interested in banned books for a while now. He even decided to do his ALAR/P presentation about the topic and said that if he didn’t have access to certain books that were banned, his perspectives on things would be limited.
“ I’m drawn to books that I can relate to, and authors tend to push themselves onto some of their characters,” Mabie said. “Seeing that they aren’t alone can let people lean into who they really are.”
Mabie said he encourages other students to take the opportunity to learn about banned books and the importance of Freedom to Read Week.
“I want to share how proud I am of the Rockwood school district,” Mabie said. “We are one of the only school districts in Missouri to haven’t banned any books that the state of Missouri doesn’t legally require us to.”
Mabie said that books can help people to feel seen.
“Reading can save lives if the right book gets to the right person,” Mabie said.
