Politicians want to ban more books. Austin’s library system is celebrating them instead

CNN — At the Austin Public Library in Texas, banned books are hot for the summer. In partnership with BookPeople, Texas’ largest independent bookstore, the library has been hosting a “Banned Camp” to celebrate free speech amid increasing pressure to restrict access to certain content. It isn’t unusual for libraries to hold activities for banned or challenged books, especially during the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week in late September. Greg Abbott has led effortsto remove some LGBTQ-themed books from school libraries, and statewide measures to restrict content are gaining traction in places like Florida, where critical race theory complaints and the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law have plunged schools and public institutions into uncertainty over what, exactly, they can and cannot teach. State delegate Tim Anderson and former congressional candidate Tommy Altman claimed the books “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe named the ALA’s most-challenged book of 2021; and the popular fantasy book “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas “are obscene to unrestricted viewing by minors.” The people behind Austin’s Banned Camp see these ominous developments as an opportunity to remind readers, young and old, that books are an enduring symbol of free speech.