Emily Knox: Book Banning in the 21st Century

Event details Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Time: 7:00 PM Location: Devlin Hall - 110 - Boston College, 255 Beacon Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 Type: Arts / Performance Registration: http://lhs-emilyknox.eventbrite.com/ About this event Emily Knox, expert on information access and intellectual freedom and censorship, discusses book banning in public schools and libraries. Emily Knox is interim dean and professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include information access and intellectual freedom and censorship. She is a member of the Mapping Information Access research team. The second edition of her book Book Banning in 21st Century America was published in January 2026. Her previous book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. She has been interviewed by media outlets such as NPR and The New York Times and also testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on book banning. Knox previously served on the boards of the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and is a former editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. She received her Ph.D. from the doctoral program at the Rutgers University School of Communication & Information. Cosponsored by Boston College Libraries, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and the Communication Department. All Lowell Humanities Series lectures are free and open to the public. Registration via Eventbrite is required for in-person attendance. The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost's Office. Official event details: https://events.bc.edu/event/emily-knox-book-banning-in-the-21st-century