Jacobs Library will host Banned Books Week, an annual event by the American Library Association, from Sunday, Sept. 26 to Saturday, Oct. 2 to recognize current and past attempts to censor books in schools and public libraries.

Library Technicians Elizabeth Small and Quillie Gaskill explained how important it is to have access to a multitude of different viewpoints and to celebrate the opportunity people have here to purchase specific books when there is sever censorship in other parts of the world.

By reading and learning more about these books, students are able to understand what others on a different side may be thinking and allows them to live in someone else’s shoes.

While some books may be banned for their content, Grace Norris, Electronic Resources Librarian, elaborated that many books may be challenged due to the author or what they have said.

The 2021 spokesperson for the annual event is Jason Reynolds, author of two books listed under the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2020,” Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You with Ibram X. Kendi and All American Boys with Brendan Kiely.

Small and Gaskill mentioned there will be a window display available to students with book covers and QR codes that link to SOAR, the Jacobs Library catalog, as many of them are eBooks this year.

For more information and to view the rest of the books on the top ten list, visit ala.org and libguides.ivcc.edu for updates.