A five-page double-sided list of banned book titles sat at the center of the table as a group of students leaned in, scanning for familiar names. Toni Morrison, Stephen King and even Dr. Seuss made the list.

This was the scene at Harned Hall at Austin Peay State University’s first banned book club meeting of the semester. The group, led by Anthony Morris, the associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters, was formed as an act of “Civil disobedience” in response to Wilson County’s decision to remove over 400 titles from school libraries last year under the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022.”

The law restricts works containing what it describes as nudity, sexual content, excessive violence or “patently offensive” material.

The club invites students and faculty to read and discuss works that may never have appeared in their high school classrooms.

“The university is a place of learning, and there’s a lot of learning to be done outside the classroom,” Morris said. “This allows students to choose for themselves and encounter works or ideas they might otherwise miss.”

For Samuel Whitaker, an undergrad club member, freedom is the point. He’s already read The Color Purple and To Kill a Mockingbird, both on the list. He believes the books contain controversial topics, but banning them is extreme.

“If we erase books that deal with slavery, racism, or war crimes, we risk whitewashing history,” said Whitaker.

After reviewing the list, the group started with Alice Walker’s The Color Purple as their first read. They will return on Sept. 17 to discuss the novel’s first half, with a complete discussion planned for Oct. 1.

After the meeting, the students socialized and continued looking through the list, talking about how books they’ve read made the list even though they felt it didn’t belong there. Students left ecstatic about gaining copies of The Color Purple to begin their reading journey.

For more information about joining the club, contact [email protected]