“Banned Books Aren’t New.” This statement was proudly displayed at Tower Time on Sept. 25 and it rings true. For centuries, the spread of knowledge, curiosity and creativity has been limited by authorities with self-serving motives. Since 1982, the American Library Association (ALA) has commemorated Banned Book Week, though the practice of banning goes back much further than that.

This year, John Carroll University and the Grasselli Library staff joined the movement against bans when they decided to bring attention to books that have been censored, challenged or outright forbidden.

Special Collections Associate Diane Dias de Fazio says the intention behind Banned Book Week is “to raise awareness about challenges” to books in libraries and schools. She admits that, though the title is catchy, it is slightly misleading. The annual event has become an “awareness campaign for challenged books of any kind,” some of which are not allowed in schools or libraries, while others are allowed despite a variety of efforts to remove them.

To bring the campaign to the home of the Blue Streaks, the Grasselli staff organized a variety of activities such as a Tower Time in which many members spoke to students about the effort to bring awareness to these books.

Members of the JCU community also had the opportunity to cast their votes in a banned book bracket in which sixteen different challenged texts were pitted against each other in a March Madness-style bracket designed by University Librarian Julia Warga and graduate student Victoria Shea-Martens ’25. Warga says her idea behind the bracket was “to get people talking and thinking about the different types of banned and challenged books in the United States.”

Some of the books included in the bracket were “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison and even “The Holy Bible.” The winner was Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” a novel appropriately about the censoring and burning of books.

With these results, Warga plans to start a “banned book discussion group” on campus in which members of the community will have a chance to read and discuss a variety of books that have historically been challenged. The first subject is expected to be “Fahrenheit 451,” with others from the bracket getting attention as time goes on. Though details are still being figured out, the club is planned to meet twice a semester starting this fall.

When recalling the origins of her own involvement in this campaign, Dias de Fazio recalls finding two texts within the library’s special collections featuring similar phrases. One Latin text had “librorum prohibitorum” and a Spanish one had “libros prohibidos.” It did not take her long to deduce that she had stumbled upon two different historical lists of books that were forbidden from the public. This proof that book-banning had so much precedent inspired her to join Warga’s involvement. Warga, already planning, asked Dias de Fazio to put up displays throughout the library calling attention to instances of censorship throughout history.

Dias de Fazio’s personal goal for Banned Book Week is to call attention to the fact that “challenges to knowledge and curiosity are not a new thing and they’re not going away.” She also says that she has a “special soft spot” in her heart for Toni Morrison, who has written many books that are frequently challenged.

She also mentions the motivations for having a university library join the fight against censorship. Grasselli wants students to know “what we’re up against,” to be aware of the ongoing reality of books being banned and the efforts to quell that.

Warga also says that she hopes to raise awareness of the fact that “Cleveland has some of the best public libraries in the country” and that anyone at John Carroll can easily access them for free. She is “really excited for the really positive responses we’ve gotten from people around the campus.”

For any questions or comments about banned books or anything concerning the Grasselli Library, Diane Dias de Fazio can be reached at [email protected] and Julia Warga can be contacted at [email protected].