Books Unite Us
The American Library Association’s Banned Books Week is September 18 – 24, 2022
Do you like trivia? Do you like books? Let’s put them together and have a Banned Books Week Trivia Night! As part of the UToledo Annual Banned Books Week, come join us to celebrate the right to read and think freely while putting your knowledge to the book trivia test.
When: Friday, September 23, 2022
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Where: Room 1005 Carlson Library
Win prizes and other giveaways. Register your team of 3-5 players when you arrive to play Banned Book Week Trivia Night. Don't have a team? Don't worry, we can provide one for you at the event.
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Read the complete statement on the ALA Website
9:00 a.m. Ben Myers, Chair of the Communication Department, Welcome
9:30 “Don't Say ‘Genocide’”? Barbara Mann, Jessup Scott Honors College
10:00 “They Banned My Book, so I Wrote Another,” Aya Khalil, Award-Winning Ohio Children’s Book Author
10:30 “‘Gentle Reader’: Examining Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and the Ethics of Trigger Warnings,” Jodi Jameson, Mulford Library.
11:00 “Banning Books and Chilling Conversations: Ohio HB 616 ‘Regarding Promoting and Teaching Divisive or Inherently Racist Concepts in Public Schools,’” Lynne Hamer, Judith Herb College of Education.
11:30 “Banned while Black,” Angela Siner, Director of Africana Studies and director of Anthropology Program
Noon: Dr. Linda Smith Lecture: “The History of the War against Women.” Warren Woodberry, Toledo Author, Educator
1 p.m. “The ‘Ugly’ Experiences of African American Girls—The Bluest Eye,” Kyndra Gaines, African American Initiatives Coordinator, Office of Multicultural Student Success.
1:30 “A Profound Fear of Poetic Imagery,” Jonie McIntire, Lucas County Poet Laurette.
2:00 “Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill & Other Educational Gag Orders,” Sharon Barnes, Women’s and Gender Studies.
2:30 Banned Books Jeopardy!
3:00 “Censoring words from headscarves to internationally acclaimed publications,” Abdel Halim Asma, Women and Gender Studies.
3:30 “Let's call it Sister Eileen and Her Boyz: An Excerpt from HIV in the Rust Belt, ” Holly Hey, Theatre and Film.
4:00 “Reading and Writing in Prison from the Inside Out and the Outside In,” Renee Heberle, Co-Director, Law and Social Thought.
4:30 “The Clear Channel Memorandum,” Risa Cohen, Creative Director, Sing into Reading.
The University of Toledo Banned Books Coalition Website
Dr. Paulette D. Kilmer (Chair), UT Communication Department
Dr. Ali Imami (UT graduate students)
Saadia Farooq (UT Alumna)
Laura Mitchell (UT Alumna), UT Alumna
Arjun Sabharwal, University Libraries
Josie Schreiber (Toledo Love Mobile Children's Library Founder)
Dr. Sumitra Srinivasan, UT Communication Department
Derek Wilmott, University Libraries
This year's hashtag is #UToledoBannedBooks25
The Banned Books Vigil has celebrated the freedom to read books in the public space (schools, libraries, etc.) without having to fear for reprisal, threats, excommunication, or persecution. Alas, the intentions of the vigil are grossly misunderstood and misrepresented where such liberties pose challenges to community values and politics. The First Amendment ensures your freedom to lead and participate in free dialog on easy as well as sensitive topics, and the selection of links below underscores the constitutional freedom to read despite such challenges.