A collection event for frequently banned books brought dozens of new titles to a Rock Spring church’s library last month.
The collaboration between Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ and One More Page Books led to 84 more titles joining the shelves at the church’s Rohrer Memorial Library.
It’s a response to an overall increase in attempts to ban books around the country over the past few years. In the 2023-2024 school year, Virginia had the fifth-highest amount of book bans in the United States, with 121 banned books across five counties.
Rock Spring UCC member Betsy Withycombe, who started the drive, said she intentionally put books on the list that she felt would surprise people, to raise awareness. She used “Charlotte’s Web” as an example.
Others books on the list include some classics commonly taught in schools, such as “Tom Sawyer” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
“Many of the books that are being targeted to be banned are diminishing our understanding and appreciation of different cultures, different histories, different expressions of gender and sexuality. We want to be a community that embraces all of humanity,” the Rev. Kathy Dwyer, senior pastor at Rock Spring UCC, told ARLnow.
Withycombe and Dwyer emphasize the importance of free speech and the role that literature plays in it.
“Censoring literature, in particular, is not helpful to the course of progress — to the course of understanding and compassion among all people,” Dwyer said.
Book bannings have been in the news lately as the Department of Defense has removed hundreds of books from school libraries and banned dozens of curricular materials. A federal court in Alexandria heard arguments this week in a lawsuit related to these decisions.
Dwyer emphasized that she does not believe banning books is a political issue. Instead, she sees it as a matter of principle.
“We see reading and reflection as spiritual practices. Our banned book collection is a way of encouraging thoughtful engagement with complex issues, empathy for others, and a commitment to truth-telling. These are not partisan goals — they are human and, for us, faith-driven ones,” Dwyer said.
The church’s library is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and after the church’s 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday.
A full list of available “banned books” is below.
- “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway
- “Ulysses” by James Joyce
- “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes
- “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway
- “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
- “Animal Farm” by George Orwell
- “Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks
- “Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya
- “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair
- “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
- “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
- “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
- “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson
- “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
- “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” Stephen Chbosky
- “Sold” by Patricia McCormick
- “How to Be An Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi
- “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
- “Dreaming in Cuban” by Cristina Garcia
- “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon
- “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
- “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
- “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
- “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
- “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
- “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen
- “1984” by George Orwell
- “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
- “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
- “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
- “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
- “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
- “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
- “The Odyssey” by Homer
- “Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor
- “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
- “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
- “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
- “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
- “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare
- “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare
- “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
- “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey
- “The Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean M. Auel
- “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad
- “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison
- “The Tortilla Curtain” by T. C. Boyle
- “The Giver” by Lois Lowry
- “Forrest Gump” by Winston Groom
- “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles
- “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
- “Maus” by Art Spiegelman
- “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi
- “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder
- “On Freedom” by Timothy Snyder
- “Haroun and the Sea of Stories” by Salman Rushdie
- “Blues in Stereo” by Langston Hughes
- “Knife” by Salman Rushdie
- “The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes” by Langston Hughes
- “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie
- “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
- “Wicked” by Gregory Maguire
- “Red, White, and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston
- “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
- “Flamer” by Mike Curato
- “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
- “Fade” by Robert Cormier
- “Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok
- “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein
- “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer
- “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult
- “Push” by Sapphire
- “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
- “Furyborn” by Claire Legrand
- “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas
- “Shatter Me” by Tahereh Mafi
- “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
- “Shine” by Chris Grabenstein
- “Deogratias” by Jean-Philippe Stassen
- “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson
- “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
- “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
