“Hey zealots, leave those kids alone”
“The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read” (Quote from the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement.)
Book Banning
One of the greatest benefits a child can derive from our secondary educational system is the development of independent thinking skills. With these skills, children can learn to navigate the conflicting opinions they will encounter daily as adults. Critical thinking skills allow a person to exercise the freedom of making up their own mind. But intelligent decision-making relies on access to knowledge and information. The book-banners attacking our school and public libraries understand that limiting access to information is an oblique way to hobble the next generation and corral them into a narrow worldview.
Do you want to know more about book banning in America, who is banning books, and what books and authors they are banning? Pen 100 is a good place to start.
Pen America – A Century Championing the Freedom to Write – “WITH FREE EXPRESSION UNDER SIEGE IN THE UNITED STATES, ONLINE, AND AROUND THE WORLD, PEN AMERICA UNDERSTANDS THE STAKES – There is a growing awareness of freedom of expression as crucial to preserving democracy and stabilizing a precarious globe – Free speech is the failsafe of open societies and essential to the creation of literature – Writers are the canaries in the coal mine, without whom injustice and repression go unchallenged“
Read about the issues and report book bans in you community.
Read about what books are being banned and those who promote radical censorship.
Books Unbanned
Fighting for the rights of teens nationwide
The Brooklyn Public Library is actively working to keep American’s right to read alive with their Books Unbanned program – “The American Library Association reported 729 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. This represents the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling these lists 20 years ago. Most targeted books were for a teen audience and were by or about Black or LGBTQIA+ persons.” (Quote from the Books Unbanned initiative)