Printed Books In Jeopardy Essay

Is the Future of Printed Books in Jeopardy?

All it takes to challenge a book is for a parent or other citizens to file a complaint against a teacher, library, school, or bookseller, for that reason many teachers and librarians choose to remove the books from the curriculum or shelves before an issue is brought up (Pitner). The fear of a lawsuit keeps many people from expressing their belief that banning books is unnecessary (Kennedy, Banned Children’s Books). Director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, Barbara Jones, stated that, “Even though not every book will be right for every reader, the ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely are core American values”.

School boards and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of

However, there are people that argue against the idea of censoring books in schools. One counterpoint of the argument of the topic is that banning books hinders students from discovering new things and obtaining knowledge. According to the article, “Banning Books: An Overview”, Michael Aliprandini and Carolyn Sprague state, “The core arguments against the banning of books have been based on protecting the rights of individuals to free speech as well as to promote intellectual freedom – the rights protected by the First Amendment.” They are basically explaining how arguments of book banning connect to the idea of intellectual freedom and protecting individual rights, which are implied in the First Amendment. Censorship of books can be expressed as violating the rights and freedom of the individuals. Boyd and Bailey support this idea of intellectual freedom by presenting how banning books in schools with the quote from their journal, “Censors evoke barriers to free thought and speech when they block knowledge acquisition, intellectual development, as well as creative and critical thinking…” (Boyd and Bailey,