Banned Book Events held at Kimbel Library

Coastal Carolina University’s faculty, staff and students brought some of their favorite books to the Banned Book Readout on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Held on the second floor atrium of the Bryan Information Commons, attendees were encouraged to read selections to highlight what they love about a particular novel.

English lecturer Amanda Grefski chose “Fight Club,” by Chuck Palahniuk. She chose a selection from Chapter 16, which she felt was “quintessential to the book and pivotal to the plot.”

Grefski says she may not always agree with Palahniuk’s views, but she believes he puts things “so beautifully raw and articulate,” she can’t help but be a fan of his work. This event was co-sponsored by Kimbel Library and Sigma Tau Delta, CCU’s English honor society.

Other Banned Book Week events included a photo shoot where students and staff had their picture taken with a once-banned novel, and a competition where participants had to guess a quote from a banned book, then unscramble the name of the novel or character who said it for a prize. Chandler Cannon won the totebag of banned books, including “The Kite Runner” and "Twilight.”

Banned Book Week launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to some books in schools, bookstores and libraries. A challenged book is an attempt to remove it from a library, based on the objections of a person or group. If the challenge is upheld, the book becomes banned and is removed from the library. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were 464 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2012.