OLLI at WVU and the WVU Committee for Retired Faculty will host “Banned Books and American Culture,” presented by Beth Jane Toren, interdisciplinary, cultural and film studies librarian, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 6) on Zoom.
Sharing perspectives from parents, educators, authors, protestors, young readers and judges, all illustrated with archival quotes, case citations and photographs, Toren will place book banning in a historical context and reflect on current events.
The 1974 Kanawha County West Virginia Textbook Controversy has a significant role as we approach the 50th anniversary. As an elementary school student who experienced the controversy firsthand, Toren presents the anniversary as an opportunity to reflect and seek peaceful and cooperative resolutions to current school and public library controversies.
Toren, who was a 10-year-old student in South Charleston at the time, remembers empty bookshelves where her favorite reading books were the day prior. She is now an academic librarian with 30-plus years of experience, who researches book banning in American history and culture and views current events in that perspective.
This virtual presentation is free and open to the public.