Banned Books Week runs from October 1st to the 7th this year, and it is a hugely important topic.
To call attention to the increasing number of attempted book bans in the past few years, and to celebrate some of our favorite banned books, staff will be racing against the clock to share their favorite banned book recommendations (and delicious, sweet snacks) on Wednesday, October 4th at CLP – Allegheny and Saturday, October 7th at CLP – Main.
Here’s a preview of our non-fiction picks for this program – check them out and come to 30 Books in 30 Minutes to hear about each title’s unique appeal in our staff’s own words.
You can sign up for a free library card here. If you are new to our eResources, check out these tutorial videos on how to get started.
If you’re looking for more book suggestions, we’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Book Recommendation form to send us some information about what you like to read and we’ll curate a list just for you.
If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can also call us at 412-622-3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org
George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years as a gay, black boy in New Jersey and Virginia. From Memories of getting his teeth kicked in, at five years old, to fond flea market trips with his grandmother, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy.
In South Korea in 1983, Kim Hyun Sook leaves her poor family and their struggling restaurant to attend Anjeon University with the goal of studying literature. Once there, she sees protesters calling for South Korea’s President Chun to step down and she is invited to join a club that discusses books that the current government has banned. Presented in comic book format.
The dream of a queer separatist town. The life of a gay and Jewish Nazi-fighter. A gender reveal party that tears apart reality. These are the just some of the comics you’ll find in this massive queer comics anthology from The Nib.
Also available as eBook on Hoopla
The authors challenge common beliefs in our ability to be aware of our biases as human beings, based on a psychological assessment tool called the Implicit Association Test. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby.
Answers to all questions gay, presented in a fun way and in prose that is anything but dry. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby (2015 edition), an eBook on Hoopla (2021 edition), and in eAudio on Hoopla.
In this graphic memoir, Bechdel delves deeply into the mystery of her father’s life. A closeted bisexual, obsessed with the historic restoration of the family mansion, Bechdel’s father was often icily distant. The relationship between father and daughter was further complicated by their shared questioning of the rigid gender roles assigned them. Bechdel re-examines key moments from her childhood in the light of her own coming out, and her father’s death – likely a suicide – shortly afterwards.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity–what it means and how to think about it–for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere. You can also check out this title as an eBook on OverDrive/Libby.
In essays that blur the line between personal memoir and socio-cultural critique, Kiese Laymon describes a rough childhood in Mississippi, body image issues and eating disorders, and the state of knowing how to love one another and ourselves in America today. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.
An essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism and contributing to an equitable and just society. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby, as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on Hoopla.
A picture book that tells the story of Alia Muhammad Baker, the librarian for the city of Basra, Iraq. In 2003, with a war looming, she knew she had to take action to save the books in her library, and this book shows her efforts to do so. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and an eBook on Hoopla.
Oluo provides a concise guide to honest and confident conversations about race and racism in every aspect of American life, while empowering all readers to become active in dismantling racial injustice. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby, as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on Hoopla.