Santa Cruz Public Libraries is recognizing Banned Books Week in October with a documentary screening and a focus on “1984,” George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel of government censorship.
Banned Books Week runs Oct. 5-11. The library will be hosting screenings of the documentary “Banned Together,” which follows the evolution of three high school students and their adult allies in Beaufort, South Carolina, as they fight to reinstate 97 books suddenly pulled from their school libraries.
The film will be screened at the following locations. Registration is recommended:
- Capitola Branch Library, Thursday, Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Register here.
- Branciforte Branch Library, Friday, Oct. 10, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Register here.
- Boulder Creek Branch Library, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Register here.
The theme for this year’s event is “1984 — Read for Your Rights!”, with the library system highlighting parallels between “1984” and contemporary political efforts to pull books from libraries.
“With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale ‘1984’ serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship,” the library system wrote in a news release.
Banned Books Week is part of a national, annual event to raise awareness about efforts to remove or restrict access to books across the country.
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