Freedom to Read 2023

Oshkosh Public Library celebrates Freedom to Read    

Oshkosh Public Library has planned a variety of activities to celebrate the Freedom to Read. The events are part of a national celebration of Banned Books Week  (Oct.1 – 7, 2023).

Created in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of book challenges, Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

The month kicks off with a free showing of the 1962 movie adaptation of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird on
Sat., Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Time Community Theater.

Other events include:

Freedom to Read Video Series
THUR | Sept. 28 | Oct. 5 | Oct. 12 | Oct. 19 | Oct. 26
YouTube
What is the difference between “banning” and “challenging”? Can a book be un-banned? Is our freedom to read a protected right? Get answers to these questions and more!

Freedom to Read Scavenger Hunt begins
Mon., Oct. 2
Fifty books will be hidden at different locations around the city–ten copies of five titles, which are on the American Library Association’s Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2022.

Find the hidden books by following the daily clues posted on the library’s Facebook page. The hunt continues until all the books are found.
Read the contest rules

Freedom to Read Book Discussions
Under the Dome
Examine some of the most challenged books of 2022 including the reasons behind the challenge, and the importance of upholding our freedom to read. Participants do not have to read the book to join the discussion. Each session is at 5 p.m.

•      Mon., Oct. 23        To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
•      Tues., Oct. 24       Flamer by Mike Curato
•      Wed., Oct. 25       Push by Sapphire
•      Thurs., Oct. 26    The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
•      Fri., Oct. 27         Looking for Alaska by John Green

     "ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Censors targeted a record 2,571 unique titles in 2022, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community or by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color. A list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2022 can be found on the ALA website at ala.org."
(Source: ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/by-the-numbers)