My fav new fall t-shirt is from Piper and Ivy. It’s comfy, comes in warm autumn shades, and sports a great logo for October… a subtle nod to Banned Books Week.
Across the country, people are talking more about books, which should make this Word Nerd happy. Except, much of the talk centers around banning and challenging books, and librarians are getting uncomfortable. This makes me sad.
Some data on book challenges
In September, 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIA) released challenge numbers for January through August 2023. In just eight months, there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and 1915 challenges to unique titles. That challenge number is up 20% from the same eight months in 2022.
The ALA is also seeing more challenges to multiple titles at once. In 2022 and 2023, nine out of ten books challenged were part of an effort to remove multiple books at once. Instances of challenges to 100 or more titles at the same time was reported in 11 states between January and August 2023. Such instances only occurred in six states in 2022 and in ZERO states in 2021.
The School Library Journal’s 2023 Controversial Books Survey also reveals concerning trends. Over 700 school librarians in the US responded to the survey, and according to the results, challenges aren’t just happening in school libraries. Forty-seven percent of documented challenges were for books in PUBLIC LIBRARIES, up from just 16% in the 2022 survey.
Self-censorship: : the act or action of refraining from expressing something (such as a thought, point of view, or belief) that others could deem objectionable
Merriam-Webster
The survey also exposes increasing tendencies toward self-censorship. Thirty percent of challenges in 2023 led to the removal of materials from libraries, up from 19% in 2022. Librarians who responded to the survey said the choose not to buy controversial materials because they don’t want trouble. One quarter of respondents reported getting harassed either online or in person. One was accosted by a parent in the school library without school administration’s knowledge. Another librarian was called a pedophile on social media. Please note, a pedophile is one who engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child. This has nothing to do with books. This label is used carelessly these days, and it’s harming the lives of innocent people and chipping away at our freedoms.
So far in 2023, 1 in 4 librarians have reported being harassed
What I’m experiencing in Virginia
Challenges to books are up in my home state of Virginia. Last year, a state senator introduced a bill which required the Virginia Department of Education to develop model policies regarding instructional material with sexually explicit content. Because of that, a new system is in place to notify parents of about class materials and give them the option to choose alternative assignments for their children.
I’m shocked to say, my little school division was ahead of the curve on this. Six years ago, when my son’s 8th grade English teacher taught a unit on Flowers for Algernon, the teacher sent home a letter explaining that the book contained sexually explicit scenes. She gave parents the option to have their students study a different story. This approach, allowing opt outs for classroom materials, seems reasonable to me.
However, problems exist even with these guidelines. For example, in an article Kaiana Lee wrote for the Capital News Service, the president of the Virginia Association of School Librarians, Nathan Sekinger, said the standards for sexually explicit content include sexual arousal or interest in dating. That would eliminate any book with romance. As one who has drafted two young adult manuscripts, I can tell you romance is essential to many books for teens.
A good friend serves as the librarian for one of our local middle schools. Last spring, because of the rise in book challenges, her principal asked her to read and review all 7000+ titles in her library. Over 7000 books! As an already overworked educator, my friend was saddened and frustrated by this requirement. There was also no way she could actually meet it.
According the article by Lee, Sekinger said that libraries already have VDOE guidelines to determine if books are age appropriate for school libraries. Systems exist to protect children, and librarians deserve more respect.
On the positive side, I learned some school districts in my state are revamping guidelines to challenge books. New requirements indicate that a person challenging a book must read the book they are challenging, and they must also have a child in the school system.
My thoughts as a parent
I recently served as a parent member of a book review committee for my child’s high school. A single member of the community, who does not have children in our schools, challenged ten books. The committee divided up the books and read them to prepare for a discussion. During the meeting, it was obvious that the challenger had not read a single one of the books. She had pages of notes from websites citing objectionable phrases or scenes but no knowledge of the plot, themes, characters, or messages of the books she was complaining about.
All of the books stayed in the high school library, with the assurance from the librarian that she would address controversial material with students upon check out. The sad fact was not many of the contested books contested had even been checked out in that school year.
Here’s the thing. I am/ was a strict parent. I had voracious readers who were capable of reading content well beyond their age levels, and I paid close attention to what they read. There were books I made them wait to read until they were older because I was concerned about violence and sexual content. My kids still laugh at me for making them wait to read the later Harry Potter books until they were out of second grade. When they did read controversial books, we discussed them.
I fully believe it’s a parent’s right, and responsibility, to know what their kids are reading. It’s also a parent’s right to limit what content their children consume. I was more strict than most. But I would never, ever, tell another person how to parent their child or what to allow them to read. That’s an individual choice. That’s freedom to parent.
How are you experiencing book challenges and bans where you live?
Happy Banned Books Week! Learn more about frequently challenged books at the American Library Association site!
Back in the 1980s, there was a big move to ban one of Sidney Sheldon’s novels from the Washington County Public Library. It even made “Good Morning, America” and “60 Minutes.” Months after the furor had died down, I visited the library and took a look at the book. Still there, but hanging together by threads, it had been checked out and read so often.
Just watched a great Toni Morrison documentary where she talks about the power written word can have — her reaction to her books being banned from many southern states !
I would LOVE to see that! Do you remember what it’s called or where I can find it?
I don’t know if this is the same one, but here is one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbIOUuK0OA
Thanks Paul!