Are There Banned Books at the Durland Alternatives Library?

I figured we’d pitch in to this annual celebration as well, and put some of our favorite banned books on display. Right now hundreds of other libraries and bookstores are setting up special displays to draw attention to censorship. Banned Books Week is September 27th – October 3rd. Stop by and check out the books we’re going to stand behind during banned books week.

What banned books do we put on display? Well, almost all of them.

After seeing the American Library Association’s Top ten challenged books in 2014, I recognized 8 of them as titles in our small collection. Based on this tiny sample we could say that 80% or more of the books at the Durland Alternatives Library would also be “challenged”

Book Challengers – who are they?

According to the American Library Association 11,300 books have been “challenged” since 1982. These are just the reported challenges to books.

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others

From what I gather, challenges are pretty broadly defined and most aren’t documented. But these attempts to remove books from public access are compiled by ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. Librarians everywhere can contact this office and leave a report. This sends a strong message to those who want to censor books. Try to remove them, and you’re basically putting them on display.

Libraries Holding Strong

Libraries are a place for education, access to resources, and even conversation. Even with the latest surge in digital media libraries have adapted to continue providing education shared community resources.

It sounds absurd, but not everyone thinks libraries should exist. Libraries have been under attack since the beginning. Today they stand out as one of the last places anybody can go and just hang out–without being expected to buy anything. They’re like a big store, but which everything is shared. The people who work there do so because they love serving their community in this way. It’s really amazing when you stop and think about it.

What Sets us Apart?

The Durland Alternatives Library is a strange place. We aren’t a Cornell Library, but we’re on campus. We’re not an official library (we don’t receive library funding and such), but we still circulate our materials throughout the ENTIRE Finger Lakes Region. Our collection is small and concentrated.

When the library was established in 1974 it was built around a collection of books on alternative communities, communes, and anti-war activism. Now the collection spans every area a normal library would cover–from picture books to action movies. What makes our collection stand out is it’s focus on social justice and transformative action.

Please let us know; What does alternatives mean to you? Leave a comment below.