Stay Informed: Updates, Events and Stories
Let Books Be: UB Libraries Mark Banned Books Week
This fall, UB Libraries is asking: whose stories get told, and who gets to decide? From Oct. 5-9, the Libraries will join the nationwide celebration of Banned Books Week under this year's theme, "Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read."
Events are spread across all campus libraries, including the Law Library, Abbott Library, Rare Books Collection, Lockwood Memorial Library and Silverman Library, to reach students across disciplines.
Banned Books Café
Monday, Oct. 5, 2-4 p.m., Lockwood 109
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2-4 p.m., Abbott Library, Room B15
Stop by for a beverage and a snack, make a craft, and browse a curated selection of banned and challenged books.
Banned Books Movie Night
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 5 p.m., Silverman 310
A free screening of the 2017 HBO film "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," starring Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne and Renée Elise Goldsberry. The film is based on Rebecca Skloot's bestselling biography, itself a challenged book, pulled into a 2015 Tennessee school dispute over its frank account of medical exploitation.
- The screening opens with remarks from Keith Mages, curator of the History of Medicine Collection, and Ophelia Morey, coordinator of Community Outreach Services.
- Sandwiches, snacks and beverages will be provided.
Rare Books Collection Exhibit
Rare Books Collection, 420 Capen Hall
Open Oct. 5-9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Access Forbidden: Banned and Censored Books, 1549-1940" traces 400 years of book-banning history, from the Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum (in effect 1560-1966) to the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (active 1873-1950). The exhibit features banned and censored scientific, political and literary texts, including a first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Banned Books Display
Lockwood Library 2nd floor lobby
Browse a hand-picked selection of banned and challenged books on display, and for a deeper dive, check out the Banned Books Collection Spotlight online for a more extensive selection.
Topical Research Guide
Human Genome Project and Legal Impacts in Indian Country
A new resource from the Charles B. Sears Law Library for students and scholars beginning research into how genetic research has affected Indigenous communities in the U.S. and beyond. Like Henrietta Lacks's story, it's a reminder that the fight over who controls information, and who it's taken from, extends well beyond the shelf.