Two-week police report details robbery with a knife, officer assault, shots fired outside Projekt Redlands and a fatal vehicle accident.
A screening of the documentary “Banned Together” at the University of Redlands brought together nearly 200 attendees for a panel on censorship, student rights, and the future of banned books in local schools.
The Spinet hosts the Paris-trained soloist for an evening concert at First Congregational Church, Oct. 21, as part of his Southern California tour.
A screening of the documentary “Banned Together” at the University of Redlands brought together nearly 200 attendees for a panel on censorship, student rights, and the future of banned books in local schools.
REDLANDS, Calif. — Close to 200 people gathered Wednesday evening to watch the documentary “Banned Together” at Wallich’s Theater at the University of Redlands.
The grassroots group Together for Redlands organized the event in collaboration with the Armacost Library and the Sigma Tau Delta honor society. Before the screening, guests enjoyed pizza provided by Together for Redlands and ice cream donated by Happy Camper Creamery.
The event also included a book fair featuring children’s and teen literature from the local bookstore the Frugal Frigate and adult titles from Protagonist Black Booksellers. A.K. Smiley Public Library invited attendees to sign up for a library card, and 10 people did so.
“For the past ten years, we have partnered with Armacost Library to recognize Banned Book Week,” said English Professor Heather King prior to the viewing. “This is the first time we’ve had a chance to partner with an organization from the community.”
“We see [phrases] like ‘Read like your rights depend on it,’ so I am delighted to be looking out at so many people value that right which is increasingly under attack,” she said.
The documentary “Banned Together” tells the story of three high school students who take their right to read into their own hands. The film addresses book banning at the local and national levels. The students manage to bring back 91 of the 97 banned books at their local schools.
“I read Animal Farm in junior high, and that is one of my favorite [banned books],” said Erin Rivera, owner of Frugal Frigate. “It was the first time I felt smart about politics when I was 13.”
“When we heard that the school district was considering a policy that would effectively ban books by making it easier to remove books permanently from our classrooms, we wanted to get the word out about what that means,” said event organizer Jenny Cross with Together for Redlands. For the past four months, the group planned the event with a focus on raising awareness and creating a fun evening free to the community.
After the documentary, the audience heard from a six-person panel: two librarians, Jenann Elias from Redlands High School and Shannon Simpson, University of Redlands critical instruction librarian; two booksellers, Erin Rivera of Frugal Frigate and Aysia Brown from Protagonist Black; and Sam Trad, an organizer of Together for Redlands, and J. Christopher Jennings, University of Redlands vice president for institutional integrity and strategy and general counsel.
The panelists discussed the banned book issue in Redlands, the First Amendment and how it concerns the issue of banning books, the role of educators and librarians, and what can be done next. They also talked about how to preserve energy and how to preserve history.
“I have family in the Czech Republic who, under communism, their active dissidence was to copy banned books,” Trad said. “I never thought anything like that could happen here and here we are.”
“[Banning books] is infringing on our free speech,” Trad said. “We have to reclaim that […] which means having the freedom to read whatever we want to read, of course with school age-appropriate books in our library.”
“[School librarians] have collection guidelines before we put [new books] on the shelves,” Elias said. “In the film one of the books that was banned, a Colleen Hoover book, we do not have that because it does not meet our collection standards.”
“The state of Maryland made it into law that you cannot prosecute librarians and teachers for doing their job as it’s prescribed in their job description, which is what all of the librarians in RUSD do,” Simpson said, hoping that could be a blueprint for Redlands in the future.
“It gives me hope to listen to people,” Jennings said. “Keeping an open mind to the views and ideas of others.” He mentioned that “this whole construct of a conversation around book banning and responses to that. Asking for books to be placed into libraries is a right we all have as citizens that is protected under the First Amendment. I do want to point that out.”
Elias emphasized that any book donations to school libraries need to be approved by the librarian first.
Several students from Redlands High School also attended the event, saying the discussion resonated with them as current learners directly affected by debates over access to books and ideas.
“I came today because I care about the message behind this event, and I think it’s important that we all stay informed,” said Ben Jordan, Redlands High School student.
“I want to be an English teacher in the future,” said Grace Emrick, Redlands High School student. “This specifically is very concerning to me, so I want to do what I can to resist what is going on.”
“If you ban books, you discriminate against certain viewpoints and don’t allow kids to actually think critically,” said Bryan Koonce, also a Redlands High School student. “Because you’re only allowing kids to read everything through one specific viewpoint.”
The Wednesday event was part of a weeklong program at the University of Redlands. Monday featured audiobook listening; Tuesday, students and staff read excerpts of banned books; and Thursday included banned books bingo.
A new event, “Literary Liberation Day,” has been added to this year’s program. It’s organized by Safe Redlands Schools and will take place Friday, Oct. 10, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Armacost Library. The event is free and open to the public.
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