Mississippi Library Commission Blog: We Read Banned Books: Jessica Parson

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

We Read Banned Books: Jessica Parson

Welcome to Banned Books Week 2022. Every year for the past forty years, the book community has joined together to celebrate the freedom to read. We focus on free and open access to information and promote and support those books that have been challenged or banned, even those that we personally don't like or agree with. We've seen an unprecedented amount of challenges in 2022, many of them challenging multiple books instead of just one title. If you are a teacher or librarian and know of a book that has been challenged or banned in your area, you can report it to the Mississippi Challenged Book Index here and the American Library Association here.

We're sharing staff members' views on a banned book every day this week and urge you to check them out, to read them, and to stand up against book challenges and bans in your local communities, schools, and libraries.

Our Library Services Coordinator Jessica Parson chose the book Ulysses by James Joyce. First published serially beginning in 1918, the novel was declared obscene in 1921. A court case in 1933 finally allowed for publication in the United States. The dense book is a modern take on Homer's Odyssey and uses stream-of-consciousness to explore a day in the life of one man in Dublin. It was challenged and banned in the United States for obscenity. Jessica says,