September 15, 2022
The Department of Journalism is presenting its tenth annual Banned Books Readout on Sept. 29, 2022 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the USU Theater on the CSUN campus. The event is co-sponsored by the University Library, Queer Studies program and the Pride Center.
CSUN journalism students will be reading aloud from books that have been subject to censorship in the last year, including Gender Queer, I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings, and This Book is Gay.
This year's theme is "Belonging on the Shelf."
The event is open to the public. Attendees are asked to register in advance at the University Library page, https://library.csun.edu/events/banned-books-readout-2022
The keynote speaker is Karimah Tennyson-Marsh, a writer and an 8th Grade English and Language Arts teacher at Century Community Charter School who uses banned and challenged books in her teaching. Ms. Tennyson-Marsh will be speaking on the theme of belonging, with a keynote titled "Books Belong in Our Community."
CSUN Associate Professor of Journalism and First Amendment scholar Elizabeth Blakey will speak about censorship and belonging.
Free snacks will be available to students at the Northridge Center entrance to the USU Theater from 12:15 p.m.- 12:30 p.m
This has been a difficult year for book banning across the U.S., with schools and libraries facing a record number challenges to books.
The books were subject to attempts at censorship for a variety of reasons, including challenges based on gender expression and critical race theory. The First Amendment, however, protects teachers and librarians from government censorship in their selection and circulation of books.