Come out and celebrate the right to read at the 16th Annual University of Toledo Banned Books Week Vigil.
In conjunction with the national American Library Association’s Banned Books Week in September, the UT vigil will take place Thursday, Oct. 10, on the fifth floor of Carlson Library.
“We want to celebrate the right to read,” said Dr. Paulette D. Kilmer, UT professor of communication and coordinator of the event. “The right to read is the right to think freely, and if we limit access to what people read, we control what people think.”
The free, public event will begin at 9 a.m. and run until 5 p.m. Throughout the day, a number of presentations will be given about the right to read and think freely by members of the campus community.
Light snacks and refreshments will be available all day along with door prizes that will include banned books as well as other goods.
New to the festivities this year: Episodes of “The Simpsons” and “South Park,” which are television shows that have been banned in certain countries, will be shown. Kilmer said she wants to showcase the right to think freely in a way more students can relate to.
“When you talk about the right to read, you’re also talking about the right to access other cultural materials. We are talking about our freedom of expression,” Kilmer said.
UT faculty should feel free to bring classes; attendance vouchers will be provided.
Topics and speakers for the event will be:
• 9 a.m. — “Celebrating the Right to Read Freely — Welcome to a Day of Discovery” by Marcia King-Blandford, interim director of UT Libraries, and Dr. Paul Fritz, professor and chair of communication;
• 9:30 a.m. — “The Responsibility of Free Speech” by Dr. David Tucker, associate professor of communication;
• 10 a.m. — “Feminism and Censorship” by Brigitta Burks, Toledo Free Press staff writer;
• 10:30 a.m. — “500 Keys,” an episode of “The Simpsons,” in which Lisa discovers a secret room full of banned books at school;
• 11 a.m. — “Speaking and Reading in Prison: Reflections on Freedom and Punishment” by Dr. Renee Heberle, associate professor of political science;
• 11:30 a.m. — “Women as Defined by Men” by Warren Woodbury, Toledo author;
• noon — The Dr. Linda Smith Lecture: “Carl Joseph: Crusader for Social Justice” by Barbara Floyd, director of the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections;
• 1 p.m. — “Hazelwood: Freedom of the Press in High Schools?” by Danielle Gamble, editor in chief of The Independent Collegian;
• 1:30 p.m. — “A Walk With Fear: Banned Books of the Horror Genre” by Torrie Jadlocki, communication student;
• 2 p.m. — “Jeopardy!” led by The Independent Collegian staff;
• 2:30 p.m. — “The Black Eden: Idlewild, Michigan” by Dr. Glenn Sheldon, honors professor of humanities;
• 3 p.m. — “The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs,” an episode of “South Park” in which J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is revisited;
• 3:30 p.m. — “Censorship of LGBTQ Content in Books for Youth” by Dr. Sharon Barnes, associate professor of women’s and gender studies;
• 4 p.m. — “You Can’t Teach That!” by Cindy Ramirez, English teacher at Bedford Senior High School; and
• 4:30 p.m. — “Troubled Tunes” and “Posey” By Dr. Edmund Lingan, associate professor and chair of theatre and film, Risa Cohen of the Glacity Theatre Collective, and Erika Frank, visiting assistant professor of theatre.
Kilmer said the Banned Book Week Vigil would not be possible without help from generous sponsors: Barry’s Bagels; Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism); Ann Lumbrezer; The Independent Collegian; Kroger; Lambda Pi Eta (UT Communication Honor Society); Society for Professional Journalists; New Sins Press; Phoenicia Cuisine; Toledo Free Press; Barnes & Noble University Bookstore; UT Center for Experiential Learning and Career Development; UT Federal Credit Union; UT Foundation Friends of the Libraries; University Libraries; Jesup Scott Honors College; UT Student Government; University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; WXUT; Yogurt U; UT departments of Art, Communication, English Language and Literature, Foreign Languages, Theatre and Film; and UT offices of Excellence and Multicultural Success, Greek Life, Marketing and Communications, and Dean of Students.
