April Staff Picks: Trial by Fire: Learning from Censorship in Literature
Second Floor
'"It was a pleasure to burn.” So begins Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, which takes its title from the temperature at which paper burns. Book burning is a historic and symbolic form of censorship meant as a display of cultural superiority and/or to suppress dissent towards an oppressive regime. In short, book burning is a ceremonial form of cultural genocide. Infamously, in the early years of the Third Reich, Nazi-led student groups publicly burned enormous piles of “un-German” books: the works of prominent Jewish authors.
It is frighteningly easy to draw a parallel between the ceremonial burning of books and the onslaught of contemporary attempts to ban books from schools and public libraries. This collection includes a selection of books for young people to introduce them to the dangerous legacy of censorship through stories of book burnings and bannings, as well as a selection of recently banned books to highlight the rich, diverse stories that librarians and educators across the country have fought to keep on the shelves in the face of harsh criticism.' -- Julia Levin, Library Associate
Where: Second Floor Collaboration Space (with design by Kao Oh, Library Associate)
Staff Picks is curated and designed each month by the Gottesman Libraries' staff to highlight resources on educational topics and themes of special interest.
