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As part of the American Library Association\u2019s Banned Books Week (September 27 – October 3, 2020), Cline Library is reflecting on the annual event celebrating the freedom to read and how it raises awareness about censorship in literature.<\/p>\n
The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools based upon the objections of a person or group.<\/p>\n
Sam(antha) Meier, Archivist for Discovery at Cline Library, is no stranger to banned books. As part of her ongoing research on women\u2019s underground comix, she has interviewed several cartoonists who have faced censorship during their careers-including Alison Bechdel, a recipient of the MacArthur Fellows \u201cGenius\u201d grant-\u00a0who is the\u00a0author of the Graphic Novel\u00a0Fun Home<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(2006), one of the books on the ALA List of Banned Books.<\/p>\n Fun Home,\u00a0<\/em>a graphic memoir which details Bechdel\u2019s reckoning with her closeted father as well as her own coming out story, has\u00a0frequently been challenged<\/a>\u00a0due to its depictions of sex and queerness. Meier observes that many queer and feminist cartoonists like Bechdel have faced opposition to their more explicit works concerning sexuality, ranging from issues getting their work into circulation to library bans to\u00a0obscenity charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n