Through Sept. 22-28, the American Library Association (ALA) held its annual Banned Books Week.
The week is held to bring awareness to books throughout history that have been challenged and censored.
This year’s theme was called “Freed Between The Lines.”
According to the ALA website this week, “It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”
Banning books is not a new concept, there are many instances where it has been used throughout history.
In recent years, I have noticed an uptick in the attempt to ban books and how that act is affecting our libraries. This issue might hit closer to home than you think. A variety of books throughout the years have been challenged.
A few of the books that have been challenged are “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger (“offensive language, unsuited to age group”), “Captain Underpants” by Dav Pilkey (“offensive language, unsuited to age group”) and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (“drugs/alcohol/ smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group”).
The ALA’s Office of For Intellectual Freedom (OIF) keeps an archived list of the most challenged books.
I looked at Top 10 and 13 lists of challenged books from 2001-2022 and a few things popped out to me.
The first thing was that some of the common reasons why a book was challenged was the content containing LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, violences and depictions of sex, drugs, alcohol.
The reasons why a book may have been or will be challenged are wide ranging.
A book that I noticed appeared on multiple year lists was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (fun fact: one of my favorite books), each appearance citing more reasons as to why it was being challenged.
According to the OIF’s most recent survey the, ”OIF documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship, as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023.”
The most challenged book of 2023 was “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe for “LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit.”
“Gender Queer: A Memoir” also was the most challenged book of 2021 and 2022.
Jennifer Geer Ph.D, an English professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, talks about why banned books should be read.
“The First Amendment grants freedom of the press and freedom of speech in America. People who want to read books have a constitutional right to do that, whether they agree with the books’ content or not,” Geer said. “Of course, people are also free to avoid reading certain books — but that should be their decision and not one compelled by the state.”
I am lucky that I grew up with parents that understood the power of the written word and, even to this day, encourage my love of reading and learning.
We are not a homogenous society, and we should be allowed the freedom to read what we want.
The Lafayette Public Library is a second home to me and it breaks my heart to witness what has been happening there.
If you don’t know what has been happening, let me bring you up to speed. In 2021, the nonfiction book “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson was a topic of discussion during the November meeting of Lafayette Public Library Control Board.
The book was originally shelved in the teen non-fiction section, but certain members of the board thought the book was inappropriate for teens (even though the book is classified as YA non-fiction).
According to the group, the Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship, summary of the November 2021 meeting highlighted the citizens who spoke of the benefits a book like “This Book is Gay” has.
The summary says, “Every speaker spoke out against censorship in our community. Many were members of the LGBTQ community, and said that books such as “This Book is Gay” were vital to teens who needed to see themselves represented in our public library.”
A proposed compromise was made that the teen non-fiction section be combined with the adult non-fiction section.
In 2023, new state law that was passed and went into effect on June 1 of this year will require everyone under 18 to have a library card that restricts access to what can be checked out unless a parent grants permission for the child to have a card that lets them access the full library.
This is another form of censorship and controls who is allowed to read what.
It should be up to the parent to decide with their children what they are allowed to read; it should not be up to the state to control access to information. I rely on the library for books for school and so do many other people and by restricting access it will affect access to important information.
Geer also mentioned how banning books can affect the wider community.
“Open and respectful communication, even on topics people may find difficult or controversial, is important to building community, gaining literacy, and learning about the lived experiences of our neighbors,” Geer said.
“If one group of people unilaterally bans everyone else in the community from reading certain books, that can shut down communication and fracture community bonds.”
I love my state and the rich literary history that it has produced and seeing all of that attack makes me worried about what the future may hold.
However, I also see people who are fighting against censorship and that makes me hopeful for the future.