Amidst the United States rise in book bans and challenges, the DC Public Library Foundation held its annual “Battle of the Banned” programming and “Power the Dream Awards” on Oct. 6, part of the DC Public Library’s (DCPL) activities for National Banned Books Week.
With local librarians competing for the title of “Best Banned Book Display,” the event featured each library in the DCPL system making a display based on a book that a school or library system in the country has banned. Event attendees were able to vote on ballots supplied upon entrance and even “buy” additional ballots to support their favorite library in the contest with a donation to the DCPL Foundation.
The evening also spotlighted the Power the Dream Awards, where the Washington AIDS Partnership, Monumental Sports, and Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes were honored for their contributions to the DCPL Foundation.
“This is very serious business, you all, as one who just got back from Jacksonville, Florida with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). We went there to go to the fight,” said Barnes. “We thought we were doing something powerful and here we are in the nation’s capitol doing the same thing.”
Banned Book Week, launched in 1982 to address a “sudden surge” in challenged books, is witnessing an amplified number of challenges, which many attribute to the country’s political polarization.
A recent report by PEN America noted that “Authors whose books are targeted are most frequently female, people of color, and/or LGBTQ+ individuals.” It also revealed that book bans or access restrictions surged 33% in the last school year compared to the 2021-2022 period.
The foundation is also at the forefront of combating efforts to restrict book access nationally.
“The DC Public Library Foundation is not neutral in the fight for the freedom to read and to defend intellectual freedom,” said Rob Hartman executive director of the DC Public Library Foundation. “We believe libraries are a place for all people to access the information that they want, that they need, that they require. And by limiting access to books and to information, we’re creating a very dangerous precedent across our country.”
The event also emphasized supporting local library programming, particularly through the foundation. Though DC Public Libraries get support from the District Government, the foundation depends on donations. DCPL Foundation Development Chair Lilly Liu Minkove explained during the award presentation.
“When I became involved in the DC Public Library Foundation I actually didn’t realize that libraries needed our funding,” said Minkove. “I thought that it was all covered by tax dollars. Where in fact the building, the staff, the physical infrastructure is covered by the tax dollars, all of the programming is supported by the foundation.”
Neither the District of Columbia Public Schools nor the DC Public Library system bans books, a fact not lost upon DCPL associate and native Washingtonian Braxton Epps.
“I’m really grateful to work and just exist in the DC Public Library system because there’s not a spirit of censorship,” said Epps. “Everyone really values the stories that people have to share, so forget banned books, we’re going to do whatever we can to continue to share these stories, and ensure that they’re retold moving forward.”