Central Oregon Libraries Celebrate Banned Books Week with Censorship Events
(Update: added video, comments from library representative)
BEND, Oregon (KTVZ) – This week, September 18-24, is known as Banned Books Week Across the country. Whether you’re an avid reader or not, the week has garnered more attention in recent years due to the active climate of more banned books in other states.
The week stems from the First Amendment and intellectual freedom rights.
Emily O’Neal, technical services manager for the Deschutes Public Library, says it’s an annual spotlight on book censorship.
“It’s our ability to think what you want to think, learn what you want to learn, read what you want to read, and really develop your own thought processes,” O’Neal told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday.
O’Neal says two to four books are contested each year in central Oregon. The types of contested books vary.
“Anything and everything,” O’Neal said. “It’s amazing the things people are going to find.”
But she says certain themes are generally contested and banned.
“Concerns about LGTBQ content, concerns about BIPOC content, concerns about race relation, perception of our police and society,” O’Neal said. “So really, all the things that we look at in our world and see bipartisan division, on other fronts, they’re noted in the concerns that people find in the information that they’re looking for in the library.”
The Top 10 most difficult books of 2021 have these themes.
There are no libraries or schools in central Oregon where the books have been banned. The only place the books have been banned in the past year is in the Medford School District, officials say.
The book, The Handmaid’s Talewas pulled from the shelves in April.
“What’s interesting about intellectual freedom is that when people challenge books, it’s because usually something doesn’t fit their worldview,” O’Neal said. “We talk a lot about society, on the right, not feeling connected, divided, left to right, top to bottom, black and white. There are all these factors that we have put in place where there are one or the other.”
“And one of the best ways to learn from each other and start filling those gaps is to read information that doesn’t fit those worldviews,” O’Neal added.
The Deschutes Public Library recognize Banned Books Week every year. This year, he is doing more to teach the community about intellectual freedom. This is accommodation a virtual round table at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, discussing what censorship looks like in central Oregon.
The Redmond Class Action is also hosting an event, called let freedom read. It’s Sunday and benefit the Redmond School District Libraries.
Here’s some background on each of Thursday’s panelists:
April Witteveen, director of the Crook County Public Library, Emily O’Neal, technical services manager at the Deschutes Public Library, and Pia Alliende, district librarian for the Redmond School District, talk about their personal experience with books challenged and banned in Central Oregon.
Emily O’Neal, Technical Services Manager at Deschutes Public Library: Emily has been a member of the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Committee since October 2020 and began serving as Co-Chair of the OIFC from the financial year 2021-2022. Beyond her OIFC membership, Emily has been a champion for intellectual freedom in her role as Manager of Technical Services at the Deschutes Public Library. Additionally, Emily currently sits on the Technical Services Roundtable, serving as Chair in 2018-2019 and again in 2020-2021, she was a former member of the EDI Anti-Racism Committee, as a writer guest of the EDI Anti-Racism Toolkit. .
Emily moved to Bend in April 2016 from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where she was previously the Technical Services and Collections Management Librarian for the Bud Werner Memorial Library. Prior to Colorado, Emily was operations manager for the University of New Mexico Collections Library. When she’s not managing a technical services department, Emily enjoys teaching dance or spending time outdoors hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing and paddle boarding with her husband and two dogs. His favorite “forbidden book” is Harry Potter.
April Witteveen: April has worked in Oregon libraries since 2005. She enjoys connecting with the community and challenging all stereotypes about modern librarianship. Outside of work, April spends time with her young family, splashes around in the Cascades lakes and finds new neighborhood playgrounds. April’s favorite forbidden book is by Ashley Hope Pérez out of darkness. April served on the American Library Association’s Michael L. Printz Award committee, which awarded this incredible and unforgettable young adult novel a Medal of Honor.
Pia Alliende, Redmond School District Librarian: Pia served as Co-Chair of the Oregon Library Association’s EDIA-Antiracist Committee during the 2021-2022 fiscal year and a member of the Redmond School District Equity Committee since September 2020. Pia raised around $2,200 for RSD School Libraries through a bike trip she took with her daughter in October 2021. She was one of three finalists for the 2022 SLJ School Librarian of the Year. published three non-fiction books in Spanish. When not in school, Pia enjoys cycling, volunteering for local organizations that focus on improving the lives of BIPOC families, or spending time indoors and outdoors. outdoors alone or with her husband, two adult children and three winning dogs/chihuahua. His favorite “forbidden book” is 1984 by George Orwell.
