Keep all books circulating during Banned Books Week and beyond

Banned Books Week is Sept. 18-24, and it’s a perfect time to tell librarians thank you.

Thank you for helping us find books.

Thank you for helping to keep books available.

Thank you for helping to ensure that the local library’s collection reflects the diversity of the people who live in the community.

In today’s hot-button political climate, libraries are at the center of the culture wars. Groups in neighborhoods across the nation are working hard to limit the materials that circulate there. They are trying to put certain titles out of reach, either through outright bans or by policies about who may borrow them.

And when they don’t get what they want, these groups threaten library funding, pressure elected officials and promote candidates who support similar restrictive philosophies. All legal, to be sure, but with a result that, if successful, would decimate people’s ability to access information freely.

A recent Time magazine story chronicles an attempt by some conservative residents in Victoria, Texas, to compel the local library to remove 44 books, many with LGBTQ themes. When library officials resisted, the residents leaned on the county commissioners, since the county owns the building that houses the library. At least one commissioner supports serving the library with an eviction notice.

Curtailing access to library materials is especially dangerous because our libraries, much like our courts, are the great levelers. This court philosophy was popularized by Atticus Finch, a character in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a book that has taken a turn or two on the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books list.

The ALA notes that a challenged book is one that somebody, somewhere, has tried to have removed from library shelves. If the attempt is successful, the ALA then characterizes the book as “banned.”

Just to show that the practice isn’t exclusively right-leaning, one of the reasons given for the most recent appearance by “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the list, in 2020, is that it includes a “white savior” character, often a complaint by people on the left who oppose certain mainstream texts.

And while the potential trauma from exposing students to racism of the past with the “n-word” in books like “Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a topic worthy of discussion, it’s not reason enough to restrict access to the books.

It would be easy to see book banning as a purely academic issue, far removed from day-to-day concerns about the economy or the environment. But consider this: Suicidal thoughts and attempts by LGBTQ youth are significantly higher than among their non-LGBTQ peers. One of the reasons is a sense of alienation and lack of community support.

The library is one of the few places these kids can go to find materials that answer questions about their lives and make them realize they are not alone. When these materials are removed from shelves or require parental consent, these kids lose access, especially if they live in households that are not supportive.

For these patrons, libraries and freely circulating materials could be the difference between life and death.

Even people who are indifferent or opposed to the struggles of LGBTQ youth should recognize the perils of letting any group dictate the contents of taxpayer-supported libraries.

While today it might be about content that they too disagree with, tomorrow it could be something central to their way of life. German pastor Martin Niemöller, writing about the rise of Nazism, voiced a similar sentiment in these often-cited lines: “First they came for the ________, and I did not speak out / Because I was not a __________.” Readers likely know how the quote ends.

So, during Banned Books Week, visit a library, peruse the shelves, find something you already like and something that challenges you. Read with an open mind, and if you still disagree with that tough book, talk about it and write about it, but don’t deny others the same opportunity you had to experience it.

And while you’re there, thank the librarians for helping to keep the doors of knowledge open for everybody.

Reach Chris at chris.schillig@yahoo.com. On Twitter: @cschillig.

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