iSchool Capstone

In Their Own Words: Reporting & Organizing Youth Testimonials of Censorship from Books Unbanned

Project tags:

database administration & development

equity & inclusion

knowledge organization

IDEAS Award

Since the launching of the Books Unbanned initiative in April 2022, Brooklyn Public Library and Seattle Public Library have collected nearly 10,000 testimonials from young cardholders. A sample set of cardholder testimonials were analyzed for key themes of censorship, access, and the overall impact of Books Unbanned. Our studies revealed the multitude of barriers that hinder youth from access to books, shedding light on censorship's profound impact. For future data analysis and tracking the impact of Books Unbanned, we developed a database solution to organize and manage the testimonials, as well as recommendations for uploading and tagging future stories.

Project participants:

Marissa Fischer

MLIS

Meghan Foulk

MLIS

Danette Jasper

MLIS

Jessica Roellig

MLIS