Banned Book Week: Ensuring Everyone Has a Choice

In honor of Banned Books Week - September 21-27, 2014 Meryl Jaffe thought she'd share clips from articles and resources to ensure that everyone has the option to read what they choose.

This year, Banned Books Week 2014 events and celebrations will emphasize a thematic focus on comics and graphic novels.

So in the spirit of spreading awareness of how schools, libraries and individuals can fight censorship, below, are some wonderful links both from School Library Journal, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and additional recommended resources:

School Library Journal has two outstanding articles that discusses comic and graphic novels in schools: the challenges they face and why it's a fight worth fighting. Teaching With Graphic Novels by Brigid Alverson, School Library Journal September 8, 2014 relates that:

This is the paradox of graphic novels: The visual element that gives them their power can also make them vulnerable to challenges. Researcher Steven Cary calls this the “naked buns” effect...

At the same time, graphic novels are increasingly used in the classroom. For over a decade, public librarians have been promoting graphic novels as literature, and researchers have studied their benefits in educational settings.