May 18, 2022, 12:47pm
You probably don’t need to be reminded that book-banning is alive and well in America. But take heart: there are some incredible people doing what they can to combat it.
Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri, has launched a banned books subscription service, cleverly called Getting the Banned Back Together. In their official announcement, they said:
Although book challenges and bannings have occurred throughout history, 2021 marked an unprecedented year in sheer numbers. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials, resulting in 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. These figures, however, represent only a tiny fraction of book challenges. Surveys report that a sobering 82-97% of book challenges aren’t ever officially reported.
Throughout the year, Skylark Bookshop is going to send out a mix of old and new challenged/banned books (god knows we have many to choose from) along with a paragraph contextualizing its history. First up: Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer!
A 6-month subscription is $150, and a 12-month is $275—and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to EyeSeeMe’s banned books program, which provides books to families and students for free.
[h/t Columbia Daily Tribune]