by Molly Martin

Flyer for the Banned Book event by the FreeThinkers@USF. Get this flyer and others on the SSA's Flyer Exchange!

This fall, the FreeThinkers@USF (University of South Florida) held an awareness-raising event for Banned Book Week, an annual campaign started by the American Library Association that celebrates freedom of speech and the importance of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

FreeThinkers@USF members set up a table in the front atrium of the USF bookstore and displayed informational posters about Banned Book Week, as well as many of the books have been at one time or another banned in schools and or libraries in the United States because of their content. Some of the books displayed were Catch-22, The Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The bookstore was a prime location for this event, not only because the USF bookstore provided the books for the display, but also because of the number of students and faculty that go in and out of the bookstore on a daily basis. FreeThinkers@USF provided free sandwiches and lemonade for students who passed by, which gave students an incentive to stay and learn about the display. FreeThinkers@USF was joined by two off-campus groups: the Tampa Bay chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which provided one of the posters and passed out bookmarks to the students, and the Tampa chapter of the Center for Inquiry.

More than 100 students came by, looked at the display, and asked questions about the event and FreeThinkers@USF. Many students were surprised that some of the books that they read in school had been banned in other schools and libraries. A few students stayed to converse about banning books, which was the overall intent of the event: to inform people about controversial books, to get them talking about free speech, and to encourage them to find out more information on their own.

The success of this event by the FreeThinkers@USF shows that you do not need a big event with famous speakers to have impact on the local community. Sometimes it is a small event like this which can leave a lasting impact in someone’s mind.

Molly Martin is currently a junior majoring in biology with a concentration in marine biology at the University of South Florida. She is the current president of FreeThinkers@USF, an active secular organization that holds events such as Darwin Day, hosts speakers, and takes part in on and off-campus activities, including volunteer work.