Thoughts on Banned Book Week, 2024
Thoughts on Banned Book Week, 2024
A guest post.
Oh, the irony of it. The blatant hypocrisy.
This is the week when the American Library Association, the advocacy group for public libraries, seems to celebrate all things controversial. They are proud to be offering books in their collections that were once prevented from being included in someone’s library catalog or shelves. Formally launched in 1982, here’s a link to the website for the event. Here are a couple of quotes I would like to highlight from there:
"...the annual event [Banned Books Week] highlights the value of free and open access to information..."
"By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship."
My big issue is not the push back against banning books in the first place. I have a number of books in my own library that are on the list of books that were banned "somewhere" by "someone" for "some reason." I obviously did not agree with that reason.
Some of these banned books I have on my shelves: A Wrinkle in Time, Bridge to Terabithia, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and Harry Potter. Then there is To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There are others; the list is long.
It is interesting to note that To Kill a Mockingbird was banned when it was released for one set of reasons (being too sympathetic to Black characters is my oversimplification of these reasons). Now the pendulum has completely shifted, and it is being banned for the opposite reasons (being too sympathetic to white characters is my oversimplification of these reasons). Here's where I found this observation highlighted:
"To Kill a Mockingbird, first published in 1966, continues to be banned or challenged by school districts through the present day. When it was first published, the book's premise was considered immoral. In the novel, a white lawyer defends a Black man who is falsely accused of rape.
Recently, the novel has been controversial for different reasons. In 2021, for example, it was banned and challenged for "racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a 'white savior' character, and its perception of the Black experience," per the ALA. It was among the top 10 most banned and challenged books of 2020."
https://www. oprahdaily.com /entertainment/g36973632/most-banned-books-list/
I was going to say that I digress, but I actually think it is important to observe that censorship still happens today; the standards by which books are evaluated have simply changed. That is actually not a digression, but brings me to my main point.
**Where are the MISSING books?**
Where are the excellent books that have been steadily discarded by the hundreds and thousands from public and school libraries over the past 50 years? One example of these are the books labeled "obsolete" because, when they were written, the first people who lived in North America were called "Indians" instead of Native Americans (the contemporary USA term) or First Nations (the contemporary Canadian term). Into the trash the books go, even when written by people of Native American heritage, because the terms used are no longer acceptable (although the older Native American who lives closest to me still calls himself "a full-blooded Indian").
There are literally thousands of well-written books on every topic imaginable that have been tossed in the dumpster because "no one" wants to read books like The Boy's King Arthur by Sidney Lanier, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. To me, this is where the irony comes in. Does the ALA condemn this practice of discarding old books? I don't think so. In fact, they recommend constant "weeding."
Example: Public Library Collection Maintenance and Weeding Policy
The library continually withdraws items from the collection, basing its decisions on a number of factors, including publishing date, frequency of circulation, community interest, and availability of newer or more valid materials. Items dealing with local history are an exception, as are certain classics and award-winning children's books. Fiction that was once popular but no longer in demand and non-fiction books that are no longer useful are withdrawn from the collection."
https://www. ala. org /tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/weeding
When a book is banned for being "offensive," it’s suddenly celebrated by the organization. But when it’s deemed "obsolete," it’s quietly thrown away. "No, no," they say, "it’s sold at a Friends of the Public Library sale." Have they been to a large library sale? I have—many times. At least half the time, the remaining books—thousands of them—are slated for the dumpster when the sale ends. I’ve personally rescued countless well-written books during the "Fill a Bag for a Buck" clearance window at the end of these sales.
I was able to purchase a book online this week in the Young Math series published by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company in the 1970s. I've been actively picking up titles in the 42-book series for well over 5 years now. I've had a real challenge finding the book A Game of Functions by Robert Froman, 1974, so I was excited to share this copy with my mathematician husband. He read through the book and was generally pleased with the mathematics and how it was presented. He made only one observation about the book being out of date—there is a single line about adding a second stamp to an oversized envelope. Yes, postage calculations have changed in the past 50 years, but the mathematics of functions has not.
Many of the books in this Young Math series were likely discarded from public and school libraries not because of 'obsolete' mathematics but because of the 1970s illustrations. Yes, I was ten when this particular book was released, and I remember clothes and haircuts like those children wear in the story. No, no one dresses like that anymore; the fashions popular in the seventies were particularly unique. Yet these books remain some of the best that have been offered in the last 50 years, written for elementary school children on mathematical subjects. Too bad they were often discarded ('weeded'), most likely based on the clothing in the vintage illustrations (or an arbitrary publication date cutoff).
As far as hypocrisy goes, just look up the American Library Association's 2018 decision to change the name of their Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children's Literature Legacy Award. The ALA, while loudly protesting the banning of some controversial books, is actively promoting the censorship (or at least “weeding”) of others, based on the association's current standards. I'm not saying that Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother was right in her prejudices against Indians (Native Americans). I am saying that reading the Little House series numerous times as a kid did not make me adopt her fear and prejudice. I will not be removing my copies of the Little House books from my library, despite my own Native ancestry. In fact, I have sought an extra set, in case the series becomes hard to find in the future, despite it winning 4 Newbery Medals.
Final thoughts:
One thing that is often ignored is age appropriateness. Very few people would suggest that every book on any banned book list should be promoted for children. Many books on the lists I skimmed today were originally written for and marketed to adult audiences. However, this nuance is often not acknowledged.
Banning books is a very slippery slope. I am definitely in favor of curating your collection, establishing parental guidelines, and having a separate collection for adults.
Free Printable of the Young Math series:
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