This post was originally published on here
AKRON, Ohio – Akron resident Ariel Hakim is fighting book bans and censorship with a subscription service she founded called Banned Books Box.
The service ships recipients one or two recently banned or challenged books each month, according to Hakim. This service aims to combat censorship by providing access to books that have been removed from schools and libraries due to complaints about their content.
A former Wadsworth Public Library staff member, Hakim saw the harm of censorship firsthand.
“When I first started to hear about book bans in the fall of 2021, I wasn’t concerned. It seemed like a really niche thing that was happening, not a crisis like it does to me and a lot of people now. But at that time, I thought people might be really interested in learning about the books that other people think are offensive and that they don’t want kids to be able to have,” Hakim told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
The Firestone High School graduate left her role at the library to focus on her two children. But she felt as though she wanted to do something while her kids were at school.
“I realized that I had a calling towards books, and access to books,” she said. “When book bans first ramped up and since then, we were seeing book bans happening in schools, libraries and in prisons,” she said. But there is an incredible power in stories that make people feel seen and understood. They can expand a person’s worldview, and they also can nurture empathy for other people’s experiences.”
There isn’t a single organization or institution that is responsible for banning books; Instead, it happens on an institution-by-institution basis, according to Hakim.
Banned Books Box contains both adult and young-adult books, though the boxes are geared toward adults, she said. The boxes also contain accessories and items designed to appeal to book lovers, though subscribers can choose to receive just the books. The one-book subscription is $22 per month and the two-book box with additional book-related items is $52 per month. Shipping is free, and subscribers can cancel at any time, according to Hakim. View subscription options online.
Hakim handpicks the tiles included in the boxes each month based on bans that are happening throughout the country, she said.
“For the most part, I choose books that I like and that other people I think will enjoy. But sometimes, I recognize that my opinion isn’t always going to be the same as other people’s,” she said.
Since starting the service in 2021, Hakim has garnered 200 monthly subscribers, she said.
A few titles Hakim selected for this year’s boxes have included:
- “A Lesson in Vengeance” by Victoria Lee
- “The Degenerates” by J. Albert Mann
- “All You Have to Do” by Autumn Allen
Banned Books Box also has a store inside the Northside Marketplace. There, shoppers can browse past titles included in subscription boxes and a variety of reading accessories.
“Ariel and Banned Books Box are amazing. I’m so glad to have them as part of Northside Marketplace,” Northside Marketplace Director Justin Lepley said.
The Northside Marketplace is located at 21 Furnace St. Hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com’s Rubber City Update, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Wednesdays.
