By MEAD GRUVER, Updated 4:35 AM PDT, September 5, 2023
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — After parents in a rural and staunchly conservative Wyoming County joined nationwide pressure on librarians to pull books they considered harmful to youngsters, the local library board obliged with new policies making such books a higher priority for removal — and keeping out of collections.
But that’s not all the library board has done.
Campbell County also withdrew from the American Library Association, in what’s become a movement against the professional organization that has fought against book bans.
These books have been banned in several public schools and libraries across the U.S. amid a wave of book censorship and restrictions. Ted Shaffrey/AP
The American Library Association and PEN America say there’s been a sharp increase in the number of books pulled from school libraries over the past two years.
One complaint that a book is obscene or offensive — from a parent, or, increasingly, a group — can be enough to have it removed from the shelves.
The books that get singled out often feature main characters who are LGBTQIA, or people of color. Many address racism, child abuse, sex, suicide, and other topics that young people may want help understanding.
Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…
“Tracie knows the power of words,” Amy Poehler said of American Library Association Executive Director and TIME100 Icon Tracie D. Hall, when she introduced Hall at the 2023 TIME100 Gala on April 26.
“When I met her, and when I asked her what her favorite word was, she answered quickly: Abracadabra. How fitting for someone who believes in the magic of encouraging children to read, and providing more books for the incarcerated. Ms. Hall teaches everyone that comes through her doors that they are the protagonist. They are the main character. They have the magic. And we cannot wait to hear what they have to say.”
Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…
Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer was the most challenged book in 2022, according to the American Library Association. Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir documents Kobabe’s coming out as nonbinary and asexual.
Since the book’s publication in 2019, readers have been regularly reaching out to Kobabe to express their appreciation for Gender Queer’s heartfelt writing and exploration of gender and sexuality.
Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…
“Book bans are about limiting kids’ freedom to read and teachers’ freedom to teach”
By Kenny Stancil, Published May 12, 2022 5:00AM (EDT)
A big selection of books in English language are on sale, for example in the ‘Fantasy and Science Fiction’ section at the ‘English Bookshop’ of culture department store Dussmann in Berlin, Germany, 25 August 2016. More and more readers choose the original versions of the books in English. (Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The American Library Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and more than two dozen other organizations on Tuesday formed a coalition to fight the far-right’s record-breaking censorship barrage—wherein nearly 1,600 books were targeted for removal from public shelves and schools across the United States in 2021.
The goal of Unite Against Book Bans—which also includes the Authors Guild and prominent publishers such as Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster—is “to empower individuals and communities to fight censorship and protect the freedom to read,” according to the ALA.
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”
We love hearing people’s favorite memories about using the library, so we’ve asked our readers and the American Library Association’s social media followers to share their experiences with us.
Here are a few highlights:
“My best memory of the library was when my twin boys found the nonfiction section. They were around three years old and obsessed with dinosaurs and sharks. The squeals and excitement that came from them that day is etched in my brain. You would have thought they hit the jackpot!”—Bridget K.
“My grandmother founded her town’s library and then was head librarian for many years. I would often spend the night at her house as a child, and would go to the library with her after hours while she caught up on paperwork. There was something so magical about being free to explore that wonderful place on my own in the dim light, with no chairs scraping, doors opening, or voices murmuring. The wonderful scent of paper and ink…I felt like it was my own special world. I have always found great comfort in books and in libraries, and it was no great surprise to anyone when I grew up and became a school librarian!”—Laurie T.
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