The Junior Fellows Study Banned Books in the Historical Medical Library

is a three-year summer and after-school program for Philadelphia high school students from historically-excluded communities to learn about the diverse careers available in the healthcare and medical fields. We also feel it's important for the healthcare professionals of the future to be active citizens; thus, we also include lessons that help promote their "civic health," addressing such topics as voting rights, the social determinants of health, and systemic racism. To that end, we recently hosted a session devoted to Banned Books Week, a session that also gave us an opportunity to introduce the Junior Fellows to the Historical Medical Library.

Founded in 1788, the was at one point Philadelphia's central medical library, serving the city's various hospitals and medical schools. Today, the Library is an independent research library devoted to the history of medicine and the medical humanities. The Library's impressive collection includes over 400 incunabula (books published before 1501), historical archives and photographs, and over 12,000 books and rare texts related to the history of medicine (the Library also has a wonderful collection of digitized materials from the collection that are available to the public through the ).

Established by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982, celebrates the freedom to read by raising awareness of books that have been challenged or banned. While the First Amendment protects against the government banning books, individuals or organizations may attempt to limit access to certain forms of expression. One common method is to remove certain books from libraries, school reading lists, and curriculum. According to the , book banning is the most common form of censorship in the United States, and according to the ALA, 273 different books were challenged or banned in 2020 alone. The organization's included by Harper Lee (for racial slurs and its depiction of the Black experience), by Alex Gino (for discussions of LGBTQIA content), and by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard (for "divisive language" and allegedly promoting anti-police views).

During a recent session, the Junior Fellows met with members of The Historical Medical Library's team to learn about the importance of libraries as repositories of knowledge, public servants, and forums for expression. Heidi Nance, Mary Hanes, and Kristen Pinkerton, the Library's director, collections management librarian, and assistant librarian, respectively, shared their insights on a variety of subjects, including patron privacy, censorship, and .

The Library staff also curated a selection of banned or challenged books from the collection. Among the more thought-provoking or surprising materials the Junior Fellows saw were , a fifteenth century guide to identifying and battling witches (for more, ) and by Rebecca Skloot, a 2010 nonfiction book documenting , her clinically immortal cells, and the role of human agency and informed consent (or lack thereof) in medicine (in 2015, a Tennessee parent attempted to get the book banned from Knox County Schools, ). The books helped spark some valuable discussions about the role of libraries, freedom of expression, and censorship.