LOS ANGELES–During the week of Oct. 5-11, 2025, the William H. Hannon Library faculty from Loyola Marymount University gathered to highlight and bring attention to Banned Books Week. This year’s theme was “Censorship is so 1984. Read your rights.” Every year, the American Library Association and Banned Books Coalition strive to bring awareness to the year’s current list of banned books.
When it comes to banning books across the United States, you might wonder who gets to decide what books should be banned. Numerous organizations play a role in the decision process. “The majority of book censorship attempts now originate from organized movements, which includes pressure groups, government entities that include elected officials, board members and administrators,” Student Engagement Librarian Ray Andrade stated.
The library faculty hosted a movie night showing “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” on Thursday to bring awareness to books that were on the ban list. The movie is based on one of the Top Five Banned Books in the United States. “This is a book that deals with drug use and suicide and queer identity and there are folks in the United States who don’t feel that is an appropriate subject matter for people to read about,” stated Associate Librarian John Jackson, who serves as the head of community outreach and engagement. “So they have tried to remove the books from libraries and schools across the country.”
Showing of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” in the library’s Von der Ahe Family Suite.
For some people, books tell a story through a lens that’s not often told. “‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ presents an identity and perspective that the average person, however you define average, is not going to experience. These are real experiences that teenagers and young adults would experience daily. There’s nothing in this book that wouldn’t be unheard of in real life,” expressed Jackson.
Andrade gave one reason “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” might have been placed on the banned book list.
“Like many of the books that are banned, it usually tends to deal with subjects that people don’t feel comfortable with. They are parents who don’t want their children exposed to content related to LGBTQ community. I am a parent. I do not understand why anybody would censor that. I am more than happy to speak to my daughter about any kind of topic,” he expressed.
The banning of books is not just related to people who are uncomfortable about certain topics, but also relates to government organizations wanting to censor information. “I see it completely related to the issue of free speech, just as anyone in the U.S has the right to voice their opinion, likewise, people should be free to read about and learn about what they want. Librarians are staunch advocates for people’s right to read and learn because of freedom of expression and intellectual freedom as well,” stated Andrade.
In order to know which books are being challenged, there are organizations that play a pivotal role in spreading awareness about these books. “There are two organizations that track this nationally: the American library association and Pen America. They track any book that is challenged or removed from a library for any reason they are looking at public libraries, school libraries, universities libraries,” stated Jackson.
