It’s been a while since we’ve done a roundup of book banning news, because it’s so freaking depressing. Buckle in, folks, and grab the mood-altering beverage of your choice. (Mine: coffee.)
The title comes from a nastygram I got on social media this week for pointing out yet another round of book banning. I got the same old saw of “we’re not banning books, we’re protecting children.” I pointed out that the case in point was protecting children from Dr. Seuss. The gentleman instantly got all up in his feelings and ranted at me for “choosing the most innocuous title” – which, duh, that’s the point – and called me “Petunia Pigthighs” as he instructed me to “get a brain.”
Honestly, I have to give him credit for the name. It’s so much more creative than the usual gross misogyny. It almost beats being called a “vile temptress” and “the Wicked Witch of [my former newspaper].” It’s so much fun being a woman on the internet. *block*
But first, on the positive side! A local library district made a national list for their intelligent policy update. Normally updates to library policies aren’t national news, but we are not in normal times. Six Mile Regional Library District, which includes Granite City, Ill. and others in the vicinity changed their procedures to clarify that patrons file a “statement of concern” if they object to the content of a book. It was featured this week as a “strong example of a challenge policy” so that there is a system in place to examine a book’s inclusion in the library collection, but also notes that patrons “are welcome to decide for themselves and their families what restrictions are right for them; however, they cannot exercise that right to restrict the freedom of access for others.”
Book Riot’s national “Literary Activism” page offered Six Mile’s policy as a template for other libraries battening their hatches for what is likely to be a hellish season of limiting all our reading to Tom Clancy and Charlie Kirk.
Elsewhere:
• There’s a list of 400 books being banned in Tennessee (the list that sparked the Petunia debacle) and it’s being shared about various schools. It’s apparently not mandatory – yet – but the “suggestion” is clear. The books include the usual suspects: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and damn near everything by Stephen King. Also on the list are Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and its sequel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Shakespeare’s The Tempest in manga form by Paul Duffield, Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in graphic novel form by Miles Hyman, the entire Attack on Titan manga series and Middlegame by Seanan McGuire.
• The latest schools and libraries adding books to their banned list includes Katy, Texas; Rutherford County, Tenn.; Horry County, S.C. (after one parent complained); Huntsville, Ala.; Decatur County, Indiana; Conway, Ark.; Germantown, Wis.; RCS Community Libary District, N.Y.; Redondo schools, Calif.; Warren County, N.J.; and, of course, Florida. My “favorite” is a controversy over a high school student in Indiana that was dual-enrolled in a college course reading Blindness by Jose Saramago. Her father pitched a fit about “reading porn” – spoiler: it’s not porn – and seriously, it’s a college course. If she can’t read college-level material, maybe stick with the high school class where they safely read… I’m not sure. What’s left?
Closer to where I am, Waterloo, Ill. had a controversy over The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because *gasp* it depicts racism. A board member literally said, “We have to make sure we’re not giving them material that is controversial,” according to the Republic-Times. So… basically the whole of American (and human) history, plus sociology, science, and clearly literature. What’s left? Math?
Three cheers, however, for board member and former teacher Jodie Burton. “It’s not my job to ban books or to say what your child can read. It’s my job to say what my child can read…. Book banners want to keep books out of other people’s children’s hands. Book banners want to say what they believe should pertain to other people, and that’s not your job.” Thank you, ma’am.
• The areas standing up for free access to books include Bellaire Public Library, Mich., which declined to ban Heartstopper on the requests of a group of homeschool parents; Sargent Central, N.D.; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Arkansas and Michigan, which have pending bills aiming to make it illegal to ban books.
• Apparently in Texas you can now teach Bible-infused curriculum in public schools . It’s an optional addition, approved by the Texas State Board of Education this week and referred to by LitHub as “mandatory Bible study.” In Oklahoma, the state’s head of education has ordered a copy of the Bible in every classroom, and Louisiana will be posting the Ten Commandments in every school. Wait until they actually read some of the scenes in Deuteronomy and Judges…
• Last year, county commissioners in Virginia tried to shut down Samuels Public Library entirely because one church group complained about the scary scary books. Now they’re trying again by creating a newly appointed board for the library. Likewise two allies of Moms for Liberty have been added to the Clark County School Board in Nevada, and a North Carolina pastor keeps showing up at an Albuquerque, N.M. school board to complain about their books. Please note: North Carolina and New Mexico, not neighbors.
This points out another fallacy I constantly hear from banners: It’s not censorship if you can still get the books elsewhere! First, there’s an enormous privilege in saying, “just go buy the book.” Not everyone has the money to go snag the book they want at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Usually, the people who really need the public or school library services are people for whom these books are vital, talking about issues like racism and misogyny and homophobia and immigrant rights and other things that are apparently too scary for us to read.
Finally: a coolness note. Artist Ellis Angel has created an art project weaving out of banned books. Usually, I cringe at art made from books, no matter how cool, because it’s defacing a book and noooooo don’t hurt the books! But in this case, the display featured at Magic City Books in Tulsa, Okla. has drawn attention to this issue, which clearly means a great deal to me. It does to Angel as well: “To have those voices silenced or censored is just appalling to me, and it’s something that fuels the fire to get me activated to do something in whatever way I can… Censorship tries to stifle creativity, but it’s crucial that artists remain bold and true to their work, as we are exercising our fundamental constitutional rights.” Read the whole interview with Pen America.
Elsewhere: St. Louis awesomestore Left Bank Books is launching their annual Literacy and Justice for All campaign, raising $28,000 by Dec. 31 to provide programs like free books to children in public schools, free copies of banned books to anyone who wants them, bringing diverse authors to St. Louis, and more. Check out the campaign here.
And Authors Against Book Banning has a starter pack on Bluesky! That’s where all the cool kids are, you know.
Happy Thanksgiving! Read while you can…