Banned Books Week in the Library

Every year libraries across the world are asked to censor or remove books from libraries. Banned Books Week is an annual event highlighting, and celebrating, the importance of students' freedom to self-select reading materials because students who are given the freedom to read are more likely to read for pleasure. And children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better in school than their peers who rarely read. During Banned Books Week, during their library lessons, Year 8 students explored the rather surprising reasons why some books are banned.

At Soar Valley College we believe in the power of reader choice. Students are taught in library lessons how to self-select books that will engage them because an 'essential part of becoming a real reader is knowing yourself as a reader’ (Willhelm and Smith, 2014). This knowledge of self is best created through wide reading driven by access to abundant books. At SVC we have approximately 10,000 books, with even more choice on our ePlatform, the very definition of access to abundant books!