Banned Books Fair at SUNY Oneonta Celebrates Intellectual Freedom

By FLORECITA SILVERIO
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA

Every October, libraries and schools around the United States use Banned Books Week to celebrate intellectual freedom and educate the public about the dangers of censorship. For 2025, the American Library Association, which facilitates these events nationwide, adopted the theme “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” SUNY Oneonta joined in the celebration with a Banned Books Fair on Wednesday, October 8.

As the “fair” title suggested, the evening event in Lee Hall’s Great Room brought a fun, festive atmosphere to a very serious topic. There were raffles for books and tote bags plus readings from banned books, which were delivered in karaoke form.

For the Banned Books Karaoke, participants were invited to stand up with their favorite banned book. They were then given up to one minute to read a passage. A string of students and faculty took part, reading passages from the likes of “Paradise Lost” by John Milton, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, and “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, a former SUNY Oneonta faculty member. The first five volunteers to join the karaoke received the gift of a free book.

Aracely Lopez and Justice Tinker were two of the SUNY Oneonta students who read passages aloud during the karaoke session. Lopez, a sophomore dual-majoring in anthropology and media studies, said she feels it is important to call attention to book challenges and bans.

“I have always found this important, just the fact that books are being banned,” said Lopez, adding, “I feel like it’s detrimental to education… [especially] middle schoolers and high schoolers, where critical thinking is supposed to be happening.”

A junior in sociology and women’s and gender studies, Tinker added, “It’s important to support this work being done. Calling attention is the first step, and it’s an important step in education awareness.”

Banned Book Week began in 1982 in response to a growing number of book challenges in American public libraries, schools and bookstores.

Michelle Hendley, Milne Library’s head of collection development, resource management, and sharing, explained that “challenge” is the term public libraries and schools use to describe publications that parents and activist groups attempt to get removed from library shelves and classroom curricula. In the organization’s announcement for this year’s celebration, ALA President Cindy Hohl stated that Banned Books Week is “a reminder that censorship efforts persist to this day. We must always come together to stand up for the right to read.”

Hendley, who was one of the organizers of SUNY Oneonta’s Banned Books Fair, explained that the university’s event was modeled on something all students would find familiar: the elementary school book fair. Like the tables of merchandise at those popular pop-up style school fundraiser events, often hosted by book publishers like Scholastic, the fair offered a selection of banned books on display for students, employees and community members to browse.

The event was free and open to the public. Among the many freebies given away at the event were pins, bookmarks, and pocket-sized copies of the U.S. Constitution—all items that encourage reading and the power of being well-informed. There was also free food, always a popular item for hard-working students.

An event like this one was a logical fit for an institution of higher education like SUNY Oneonta and its Milne Library, which are built on principles of academic freedom and inclusivity.

“Libraries value intellectual freedom because it’s part of our mission to provide and protect access to information and ideas,” stated Hendley.

Another of the event’s co-organizers was Sallie Han, a professor of anthropology and the faculty director of the Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence at SUNY Oneonta.

“We are here because we care about our ideas. We are here because we are willing to be unsafe about our ideas, to try out new ones that are unfamiliar to us,” stated Han, continuing, “So, the very idea of restricting what we are allowed to think and allowed to read and thereforebe prompted to think, is the exact opposite of why we are here.”

Jasmine Suryawan Buenviaje, associate director of SUNY Oneonta’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, described the extreme care and passion that staff and faculty put into the Banned Books Fair.

“We want students to know we care about them,” she said, adding, “We want them to know we are here for them and that we understand that there are a lot of pressures right now. Especially for students who are coming from marginalized or targeted communities, [we want them to know] that we see them and we value their stories.”

Scholarly Communications Librarian Sophia Dunne added that the fair was library staff’s way “of standing for intellectual freedom and promoting the idea that everyone deserves access to diverse perspectives.”

The event communicated a passionate sense of community and purpose. Organizers and participants alike left with a shared commitment to protecting the freedom to read—and to keeping diverse voices accessible to all.

The Banned Books Fair was hosted by SUNY Oneonta’s campus library, Milne Library, in conjunction with the university’s Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion. The campus has participated in Banned Books Week in the past, though this was the debut of the fair concept. The City of Oneonta’s Huntington Memorial Library also promoted the event.

This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.