Banned Book Display at Westfield Memorial Library through October

The Westfield Memorial Library is proud to host The Picture Book Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom, a collaboration between PEN America, the Westfield Memorial Library and activist/artist Ellis Angel, on view through October.

These new protest weavings are made from the shredded pages of PEN America's most banned picture books. The show features Angel’s weavings made from shredded, banned and challenged books, reframed behind bold “banned book” caution tape. The work is an offshoot of the adult book series: “The Censor's Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom”, an ongoing series developed from the ALA's top 10 banned books.

Angel created this weaving series in response to the concerning rise in organized censorship, orchestrated by a vocal minority, that has escalated dramatically since 2021. The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) notes, "The majority of library censorship can be tied to organized campaigns. Pressure groups and the administrators, board members, and elected officials they influenced, targeted 4,190 total titles in 2024. From 2001—2020, this constituency attempted to remove an average of 46 titles per year.”

PEN America writes, "organizations and groups involved in pushing for book bans have sprung up rapidly at the local and national levels, particularly since 2021. These range from local Facebook groups to the nonprofit organization Moms for Liberty, a national organization that now has over 200 chapters" and "in the short period since their formation and expansion, these groups have played a role in at least half of the book bans enacted across the country during the 2021—22 school year. PEN America estimates that at least 20 percent of the book bans enacted in that time frame could be linked directly to the actions of these groups, with many more likely influenced by them.”

Ellis Angel is an activist artist. With a concentration in mixed media, more specifically paper weaving; Ellis seeks to reduce text and meanings to their basic parts to provide the viewer with a different reading of the theme. Embracing the realm of weaving, often using paper rather than textiles, Angel uses one of the oldest art forms to say something of current affairs.

Library Director Allen McGinley said, “Every single person should be entitled to choose what they do and do not read. But no one has the right to make that choice for anyone else. I hope you will join me in celebrating Banned Books Week this year by reading a book that has been challenged or banned. Read a story that has been declared dangerous. Exercise your right to read - your right to decide for yourself.”

To sign up for a library card, or learn more about the library’s resources, please visit https://wmlnj.org/, or follow the library on Instagram. The library is located at 550 East Broad Street. Library hours are Monday - Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday 1:00-5:00 p.m.