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September not only marks the start of the school year: it's the time of year when two celebrations of freedom occur!
Constitution Day
The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. Our Constitution came with the Bill of Rights—the first 10 Amendments—which lay out certain freedoms that Americans are given. The First Amendment is arguably the most well-known: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Because it shares the date with the Constitution's signing, September 17 has been celebrated as Constitution Day since the 1940s.
Banned and Challenged Books Week
Though most people know about the First Amendment in relation to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, it also protects your freedom to read. Not only does it mean that the government can't stop someone from publishing their ideas, they can't stop other people from accessing them. People in the US can write without fear of arrest or government censorship: even today, this isn't a freedom all nations have.
This doesn't stop regular people in the US from trying to censor information, though. Libraries, booksellers, and even websites have been pressured to remove materials that different groups of people find offensive. However, libraries exist to get people information—even information we may not like! We think it's extremely important that people are free to explore ideas. So the American Library Association started Banned and Challenged Books Week, held the last week of September since 1982, to make these requests for censorship more public and to fight against restriction of your right to read.
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Guest Review: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
By Dr. Justin A. Pariseau, Associate Professor of History
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845) is widely considered today by historians and literary scholars to be one of the most important texts written in nineteenth-century America. Frederick Douglass’s first of three autobiographies published during the 1800s introduced him to a skeptical audience who initially could not believe that a man who had endured such horrors in slavery could stand before them as arguably the finest orator of all the abolitionists of the antebellum era. His biography stands as an important contribution to the genre of fugitive slave narratives written during the period, and more broadly, as a foundational contribution to African American literature. Interestingly, the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) made national news recently due to revelations that, among other banned books, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography had been banned in recent years from the Illinois prison system as part of an inmate education program due to its “racial” content. IDOC appears to be addressing the issue, but it is not hard to imagine how Douglass would have felt about his book being banned. Douglass, in his own words, said that the pathway to freedom was to “set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read” – a powerful message that still resonates 174 years after it first appeared in print.
Want to check out Douglass' work for yourself? You can find the physical book in our catalog, or read it online through OneSearch.
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Celebrate Constitution Day and Banned and Challenged Books Week!
by Katherine Sleyko
PSC will hold its Constitution Day in the Atrium on September 17, from 12:30pm to 2:00pm. Come talk to History professor Dr. Justin Pariseau about current Constitutional issues and history, and librarian Katherine Sleyko about it's imapact on our right to read.
You can celebrate Banned and Challenged Books Week by coming to PSC Library from September 23-27 and going on a blind date with a banned book. Any book on the Challenged or Banned books lists that the PSC Library owns will be wrapped in paper and put on display. With only a brief description of the contents on the wrapper, you won't know exactly which book you've checked out until you get it home! |
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