Bans are necessary for many things, but books are not on that list. Books are the knowledge that power our world and have helped mankind evolve for ages. Banning books dates back to 1637 and has only become more rampant recently. The books that are suggested to be banned involve topics such as LGBTQ+, issues such as sexual assault and rape, and many other subjects. Society believes that certain books should be censored due to their topics because they are not appropriate for younger readers, such as K-12. Schools around the nation are constantly battling to remove books from their libraries, and even in public libraries. In 2023 alone, 4,240 books were targeted for censorship, and 1,247 demands were made to censor certain books in schools, libraries, and resources. Thankfully, not all demands were met. This information comes from the American Library Association. They have a campaign readers can join to prevent book banning, but this isn’t the only one. Unite Against Book Bans has its website with campaigns and many options on how someone can help stop what’s happening.
I believe that banning books is the worst thing that could happen. Books help to create imagination, inspire ideas, spread knowledge, educate people, and so many other things. Banning books just because they are supposedly inappropriate for some to read isn’t a valid reason for them all to be taken away. For example, a majority of books that are LGBTQ+ related are banned because people don’t agree with the content. Information is key, and to take it away would only hurt our society. We’re told that we study and look at history so we don’t repeat any of the negative things, so why is it not the same for books? Back in 48 B.C., the famous Library of Alexandria was burnt to the ground. This was considered a tragedy as so much information and knowledge was lost. Today, people want knowledge and stories to disappear from the face of the Earth. Wouldn’t this only be the same tragedy that happened to the Library of Alexandria? I will do anything to keep books from being banned as I am an avid reader myself. Without books, society would crumple and lose centuries of progress, joy, and emotion that has been conveyed.
