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Up To Date

Kansas City Public Library spotlights Banned Books Week with 'Community Bookshelf'

By Steve Kraske,
Danie Alexander
Published September 23, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
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The "Community Bookshelf" installation on the wall of the Kansas City Public Library's Central location features 42 classic titles. A third of them have been banned or challenged.
Kansas City Public Library
The "Community Bookshelf" installation on the wall of the Kansas City Public Library's Central location features 42 classic titles. A third of them have been banned or challenged.

Of the titles depicted on the iconic 26-foot-tall book spines on the Kansas City Public Library's parking garage, 11 have been banned or challenged in the past.

For Banned Books Week, the Kansas City Public Library presented a visual reminder of what library bookshelves could look like when books are banned.

The library hung banners from its parking structure showing which titles would not be there had they been successfully challenged and banned.

The library's Crystal Faris discussed some of reasons people give for challenging books, the new Missouri law that resulted from Senate Bill 775 and what libraries around the state are doing in response to it.

  • Crystal Faris, deputy director of youth and family engagement at KC Public Library
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Up To Date PodcastKansas City Public LibraryBooksLawlibrarieschildrenchildren's books
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Steve Kraske
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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Danie Alexander
As senior producer of Up To Date, I want our listeners to hear familiar and new voices that shine light on the issues and challenges facing the myriad communities KCUR serves, and to expose our audiences to the wonderful and the creative in the Kansas City area. Just as important to me is an obligation to mentor the next generation of producers to ensure that the important conversations continue. Reach me at alexanderdk@kcur.org.
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