An unusual sign greeted students as soon as they entered the TK library this week:

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

Under the sign, there were “banned shelves” where a few dozens of books on display were clearly sealed with “do not enter” banners.

This was a controversial setup for a provocation designed to think about “Banned Book Week”, an annual event created to celebrate the freedom to read globally. The event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community of librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers around the common goal of the freedom to read.

What were the banned books?

The "Banned" books are the children's books we have which have been on the American Library Association’s (ALA) list of the ‘100 most banned or challenged books’, over the course of the last century. After conversations with parents, our teacher librarian Ms Nadine also placed three “frustration books” on the shelves (Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries and Geronimo Stilton). These are books that students enjoy reading, but are ones that parents and teachers frequently want to switch as they try to get students to extend or broaden their reading, from both a breadth and depth perspective.

Each session in the library for grades 3-6 was a learning opportunity for students. They learnt about the freedom to read and also learnt about how to choose the right books for themselves.

Who has the right to choose what we read?

What books are appropriate and inappropriate for your grade?

What makes a book inappropriate for you?

What do we do when we think a book is inappropriate?

Every class explored the reasons behind books being banned. At the end of the class, Ms Nadine told students that the DO NOT READ THIS BOOK sign was put up as a provocation, designed to spark their interest in the banned books and they could in fact read anything they wanted.

The purpose was to get them to think about our collective freedom to read... whatever we want, including the banned books.

At CIS, we encourage the love of reading and believe in voluntary reading that is driven by students themselves.