Eve Kausch, outreach librarian for special collections and archives, with an exhibition related to banned books at Chalmers Library.
When Eve Kausch began working on a banned books exhibit for Chalmers Library, they came across all the usual suspects, everything from “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain to “Looking for Alaska” — the second-most banned book in America in the 2023-2024 school year, according to the nonprofit PEN America — by John Green ’00.
But there were others that Kausch — outreach librarian for special collections and archives — didn’t expect to find among the censored. They include “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White, which has been banned over religious objections to its “blasphemous” talking animals. And “A Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein, challenged on the grounds that its poems encourage disobedience and messiness.
All of these books and more are on display in the library’s Bulmash Exhibition Hall as part of a county-wide observance of Banned Books Week, which takes place Oct. 5-11. Other events include a campus film screening and a Mount Vernon book discussion.
Kausch said that the impact of literary bans — often based on the author’s treatment of sex, race, religion or LGBTQ issues — goes far beyond the books that are actually censored.
“It’s important to understand how this issue is connected to larger issues in our country right now about what stories we’re allowed to tell, how we remember the history of this country, how we teach that history to our kids,” Kausch said. “A lot of people are talking about freedom of speech right now, and this is a freedom of speech issue.”
In addition to the Chalmers display called “Banned, Challenged and Censored Books,” which runs through Oct. 12, there will be a screening of the documentary “Banned Together” on Oct. 7. The film follows three high school students in South Carolina as they work to get 97 books reinstated at their school district’s libraries.
Kausch hopes that students and other members of the campus community will learn — and be inspired by — the examples set by students in the documentary. It will be shown at 7 p.m. in Oden Hall’s Archon Auditorium.
“It’s important to have people from a liberal arts college stand up for these kinds of books that we know cover important topics,” they said. “These are all topics that we value at Kenyon — topics of diversity, equity and inclusion; race; and sexuality.”
The event is in partnership with the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, which is hosting an Oct. 7 book discussion of “Parable of the Sower,” by Octavia E. Butler, who received an honorary degree from Kenyon in 1997. That lunchtime event will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the library in Mount Vernon.
Mattie Lawler ’27 and Jordan Shaevitz ’27, two Kenyon interns at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, are assisting with the events. Lawler said they are excited to be part of gatherings that serve an important purpose, particularly at this moment in time.
“Silence has always been a tool of repression. These events, though small, are crucial ways to foster a sense of community engagement and connectedness in a climate where that is increasingly discouraged,” they said.
Across the country, book bans have been on the rise in recent years. PEN America, which works to protect free expression in the United States and is providing the media sponsorship for the Mount Vernon book discussion event, found more than 10,000 book bans in public schools in 2023-2024. These took place in 29 states, including Ohio.
Jamie Lyn Smith-Fletcher ’96, deputy director of development, special projects and writing programs for the Knox County library system, said she is excited once again to partner with Kenyon to call attention to these issues as a united community.
“Our constitutionally enshrined rights include freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It’s great to be part of a community that celebrates the freedom to read and the freedom to write, and Banned Books Week is even more critical at this time,” she said.