Letter: Book club focuses on banned books to thwart alarming trend

Vicki Weeks and Kiki Kornhauser
·1 min read
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STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT - AUGUST 31: Bookshelves of library books stand reflected in the media center of the Newfield Elementary School on August 31, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. The school library, like many around the U.S., will be largely closed to students due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stamford Public Schools is opening the fall semester using a hybrid model, although many families have chosen the distance-learning option. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

This letter was submitted by authors Vicki Weeks and Kiki Kornhauser, who have formed the Savannah Banned Books Club.

Dear Editor: We are writing to thank you for the recent article on book banning. It is important to shine a light on this very alarming trend. We have formed the Savannah Banned Book Club, open to all, to increase awareness of this attempt to control what people can read. Each month we select an adult or young adult book that has been banned or challenged.

We read and discuss the books, then place them in Little Free Libraries around Savannah so that others may enjoy the books. We want to let people know the kinds of literature that have been banned or challenged, classics most of us were taught in school: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Beloved, The Giver, and The Bluest Eye, among many others.

Ironically, a ban usually results in increased sales of that book. Book banners should take note: they can control what their own children read, but they have no right to take away the freedom to read from others. Reading is the fundamental building block of knowledge, and knowledge is power.

For more information on the Savannah Banned Book Club, please contact us at divervicki@aol.com or kbkornhauser@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Letter: Book club focuses on banned books to thwart alarming trend