{"id":81516,"date":"2024-09-30T11:11:46","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=81516"},"modified":"2024-09-30T11:11:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:11:48","slug":"blind-date-with-a-banned-book-results-in-record-breaking-banned-book-checkouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=81516","title":{"rendered":"‘Blind Date with a Banned Book’ results in record-breaking banned book checkouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Story by ADIA REYNOLDS Photos by ABIGAIL SHEARER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Thursday, the Hays Public Library hosted its third annual \u201cBlind Date with a Banned Book\u201d in the common area to promote conversation, socialization, and expanding readership of banned literature. The library has hosted banned book events to raise awareness for years, though only in the last three have they taken advantage of this trendy format. Books were placed on display racks and scattered around the room, but with a slight twist. No one could see the cover of the book until it had been selected to be checked out by a patron of the library, A \u201cblind date\u201d with a book involves wrapping the novels in paper or placing them in manila envelopes with brief descriptions of why the title was challenged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain titles were easily guessed, such as \u201cHarry Potter\u201d <\/em>and \u201cThe Giver.\u201d <\/em>These were quickly plucked off the shelf and checked out by nostalgic readers. Those looking to expand their tastes, however, selected their next read based only on the reasons the book had been banned in the United States. One such reader, Ashley Vilaysing, explained that her selection was influenced by the AR Bookshelf Event held at the Fort Hays Memorial Union earlier that week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a feeling that this was one of the titles I hadn\u2019t read\u2026 it opened me up to a book I wouldn\u2019t normally have picked,\u201d Vilaysing said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blind Date with a Banned Book was designed to draw more readers into the contentious realm of banned literature and discussions surrounding the topic, especially when book bans are still soaring in comparison to decades prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary goal of this year\u2019s event was to craft a welcoming atmosphere that would entice new and returning readers of banned literature alike. With the help of staff, the central area of the library was transformed into a lively affair stocked with enough activities, sparkling cider, and chocolates to go around. Librarian Sara Doyle also paired the \u201cBlind Date with a Banned Book\u201d with another event: t-shirt making. Bookish designs such as \u201cBorn to Read, Forced to Work\u201d and \u201cIntroverted but Willing to Discuss Books\u201d were ironed on to black or white t-shirts according to participants\u2019 preference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While participants waited for an open ironing station, they could browse the banned books stationed around the room. Participants happily claimed titles that piqued their interest, exclaiming that \u201cWe do<\/em> judge a book by its cover!\u201d Alternatively, the blind aspect allowed readers to take a leap of faith into unfamiliar territory in a \u201cnovel\u201d <\/em>way. As a result of this event alongside the many others happening on the FHSU campus (such as the aforementioned AR Bookshelf), librarians reported their highest banned book check-out rate in the history of Banned Book Awareness Week in Hays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is important to us that books make it out to the people who need it\u2026 we\u2019re here to promote literacy,\u201d Doyle said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by ADIA REYNOLDS Photos by ABIGAIL SHEARER Tiger Media Network Last Thursday, the Hays Public Library hosted its third annual \u201cBlind Date with a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":81518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,11],"tags":[15757,15763,14276,15858,3126],"class_list":["post-81516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-news","tag-abigail-shearer","tag-adia-reynolds","tag-banned-books-week","tag-blind-date-with-a-banned-book","tag-hays-public-library"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Banned-Books-001.jpg?fit=1171%2C784&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81532,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81516\/revisions\/81532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}