It’s a celebration! And a cautionary tale. Oct. 5 – 11 marked the 43rd Banned Book Week***, a tradition started by American Librarian Judith Krug, the executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation and a free speech advocate. She wanted librarians, teachers, and readers of all ages to celebrate their right to read and speak against censorship. We have the right to read nonconformist literature in this fabulous country. We were FORGED in rebellion against tyranny. Consider:
- J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”
- Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
- Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”
- Anthony Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange”
- Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”
- George Orwell’s “1984”
- Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”
- J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”
- E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” (???)
- Bill Martin, Jr.’s “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” (????)
All these titles and authors were targeted locally, regionally, or even for the Texas Board of Education, accidentally. Even when it’s mistaken identity of an author, history does not look favorably upon those who allied with book bans.
“Charlotte’s Web” was removed in Kansas when some parents considered animals talking “blasphemous.” A parent has that right to keep their kids from certain stories, but in our house, talking spiders and pigs are TERRIFIC.
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was banned in the South after it was published in 1852. It was not in slave states’ economic interests to have empathy for their free labor force. But they couldn’t stop everyone from reading it, and it helped spur on the abolitionist movement.
Toni Morrison doesn’t tell dark stories; she shines a light on dark deeds done unto others.
John Green, author of many Young Adult Fiction books including, ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ and a former children’s hospital chaplain, said, “I think efforts to restrict stories are often efforts to restrict empathy.”
The “Fault in Our Stars” was moved out of the young adult section at our county public library into the adult section per the Columbia County Commissioner’s 2024 library guidelines passed unanimously last year “to keep kids safe.” Other titles that moved per the guidelines include Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Speak” and Judy Blume’s “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.” What’s the big deal? So a few books moved out of their intended section, now we have to go downstairs, or across the room. So what. Some books are disappearing altogether. Some might say, good riddance. But what’s the bigger issue? For those who value the library, literacy, transparency, bibliophilia, and the U.S. Constitution, government censorship is a big, clear NOPE.
Our library’s severely reduced certified staff situation since Sept. 3, 2024, indicates the internal conflict and toxicity for those who saw the vague guidelines violate federal and state professional standards.
The players who pushed these guidelines want to weed out books they deem “objectionable” or “inappropriate” based on out-of-context excerpts, not on a full read of the book. Now, they’re soliciting the Columbia County Board of Education to remove books from school libraries with the same strategy. Hey, why don’t you come down and join me in pulling out actual weeds from one of our community gardens? We could use more help. Gardening and bird watching are great for mental health and community engagement. We have more challenges and opportunities that could bring us together, rather than divide us.
Have y’all read, “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books” by Kristen Miller? She writes, “The worst thing you can do as a parent is shield your kids [especially our young women] from the ugliness of the world. Then blame them when they didn’t see it coming.’
We parents pivot every day between protecting and preparing our kids. It is essential and exhausting. And trying to keep them off YouTube is like trying to stop the sun from rising.
As a parent, I want to promote literacy and protect my right to find library books where they belong. I will choose which books might be launch pads to tough conversations with my family. I’m sorry we live in a time when our kids need active shooter drills along with school fire and tornado drills, but I support them. When we practice, we prepare for the real thing. Books are a way to walk in someone’s shoes and ask, collectively, “What would you do if it was you?”
It’s hard in the actual moment. We teach our kids to stand up to bullies, but the adults are having a hard time with it. Our leaders have shown up short in upholding the Constitution and publicly shutting down hateful, discriminatory rhetoric and unfounded criminal accusations. The “guidelines” are just another way to bully down stories or keep folks uninformed. Those who praise them should ask, who wrote them? Why did the lead author resign from the board once they passed? What was the review process before implementation, or was there even a review? Was the community informed? What were the incentives for the guidelines? What have been the consequences? Are kids really safer with fewer librarians, fewer story times, and fewer books?
Being a nerd, I know history will play out. It seems every generation and region throughout the world has its own merry band of book banners. Some lead to violence.
None of them look good over time.
Consider when this best-seller was criticized for being “Unconventional, immoral, and unchristian…’ Did you guess Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” published in 1847? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it! In other words, wait a generation or two, and today’s condemned book will be future required reading per parental discretion.
Maybe hard-copy books won’t be around, but the stories will be if we protect: The Holograms of Harry Potter.
***FYI: Columbia County Libraries have no Banned Book Week displays. The county has done away with all public library displays and controversial books. They will start their own regulated library region on Jan. 1, 2026, with a new board and book-shelving policy based on the guidelines. Will this board reflect the community or a narrow agenda? Will the library be led and staffed by those who protect intellectual freedom or the status quo? Ray Bradbury wrote, “I hate a Roman named Status Quo!”
Marlena Bergeron
Evans, GA
