SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Springfield Technical Community College library unveiled an exhibit last week that puts a spotlight on banned books.

The new exhibit takes a recent rise in book banning and turns it into an interactive educational experience. Sponsored by the STCC Office of Multicultural Affairs and the STCC Library, a Periodic table of banned books was created with a reason why the book may be banned displayed on top. There are QR codes with an online version on every book in the exhibit.

Banned Books include titles of classics such as “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” “1984” by George Orwell, and “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin .

  • STCC student Kissandra Hernandez of Springfield checks out the exhibit in the STCC library. (Springfield Technical Community College)
  • STCC staff who worked on the project include, from left, Emily Butler, Rebecca Schmidt, Belymer Cruz, Erica Eynouf, Vonetta Lightfoot, Dan Paquette and Marco Packard. (Springfield Technical Community College)
  • A white board at the STCC library raises awareness about banned books. (Springfield Technical Community College)

The number of challenges or calls to remove books has more than doubled across the country since 2020 and censorship is a troubling trend for the library at STCC. “We want to provide you access to whatever you want to learn about and all of these books are available and if there’s anything else you need we’ll help you,” Emily Butler Outreach & OER Librarian.

STCC’s message, we will never grow as a society as long as we are banning books and therefore banning knowledge. Diverse books are being targeted the most, much of the banned material is about or written by marginalized groups.

“We should be closer rather than fractured which we are becoming more so on a daily basis and we’ll never achieve any type of unity in the country or globally unless marginalized voices are heard at an equal rate.” Erica Eynouf Dean of STCC library

STCC says that the exhibit is here to stay and is hoping it encourages students to and people to never accept literary censorship.