Newsmaker: Iris Mogul

In 2023—as book challenges, relocations, and removals in the state’s public and school libraries were reaching unprecedented levels—16-year-old Iris Mogul started the all-ages Banned Books Club in Coral Gables, Florida. The club’s largely but not exclusively adult membership includes English teachers and retired professors. They read and discuss titles like James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Her efforts drew significant attention, and this past May she received an honorable mention from the Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards, which recognizes local high school seniors for service projects. This summer, she participated in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech (SAS) Leadership Program, joining a nationwide network of young people fighting against censorship attempts. Now a first-year student at University of California, Santa Cruz, Mogul has been named youth honorary chair of this year’s Banned Books Week (October 5–11) by the American Library Association.

Mogul spoke with American Libraries about her activism, her conversation with fellow Banned Books Week Honorary Chair George Takei, and practical anticensorship steps teens can take.

What does being chosen as the youth honorary chair mean to you?

It’s an honor. I started a banned books club at [the Books & Books bookstore], and there was some publicity. It was foreign to me, but this is even crazier. Logistically, there are two main events that I am participating in. One is a one-on-one interview with this year’s honorary chair, George Takei [which will be released October 9 at the Banned Books Week YouTube page]. The other one is moderating a panel with young activists who are involved in anticensorship work [“A Fight for Our Rights: Youth Fighting Book Bans,” which will stream live October 8 at 3 p.m. Central.] I’ve been on a few podcasts and met a lot of really cool people.

What prompted you to start the Banned Books Club?

I really just wanted to join a book club, and I couldn’t find one that met in person, so I figured the best thing to do would be to start one. This was the summer when there was all this controversy about [Florida’s ban on the pilot of] AP African American Studies, and there were huge lists of the most-banned books. I thought getting together and talking about books that are banned, why they’re banned, and why that’s bad would be a really cool structure for a book club. But it could also double as community organizing.

Tell me about your work with the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech.

It was great. There’s a cohort of other SAS students, and we met over Zoom once a month. There was always a guest in a related field, like journalists, a Harvard law professor, and the ALA president—all these really accomplished people. We would engage in conversations with them and with each other. On top of that, there were a bunch of projects we had options for. I wrote a piece about the failing of humanities education and higher education, and then later in the year, I wrote a piece on AP US History and how it’s skewed, like there’s a narrative missing.

Were there any highlights from your conversation with George Takei that really resonated with you?

He’s amazingly accomplished, but in ways that have positively impacted so many people, whether through entertainment or advocacy. His story of being a 5-year-old in Japanese American internment camps during World War II was so intense, but the way he talks about the panic of the entire US at the time, and how it clouded their views was incredible historical insight. It’s such an emotional, vulnerable story, but he told it beautifully.

What are some practical things that you would recommend that young people do if they care about censorship?

I think number one is to challenge yourself to read. Everyone is super busy, especially when you’re in high school. But it’s like a muscle that you have to practice to really be able to sit down and focus. Then, if you’re interested in activism, there are plenty of nonprofits and organizations. Making an effort to stay informed and to read is important, and the book banners don’t want that.

Is there anything that gives you hope for the future?

I just started college, and being around a bunch of people who seem to care about what’s happening around them is really uplifting. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by people who want to hear the voices of young people and who don’t write them off as idealistic, naive, and uninformed. That gives me a lot of hope. I also really like to read about revolutionary and radical activism from the past, because people have put together impressive movements from nothing but ideas and community.