That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America

by Amanda Jones

Were they suggesting that God was smiting our community because I spoke out against censorship? You have to wonder at the logic of white Christian nationalists.

Speaking to a room full of people whose mindsets on libraries you’re unsure of can be very intimidating.

Preach

They put their hate on full display and do not even try to hide it. For the crowd who wants to “protect the children,” they sure do set a bad example.

They decry the need to protect children from the evil smut they say is next to Dr. Seuss books. As if a kid could be looking for The Very Hungry Caterpillar and whoops, there’s The Joy of Sex or the Kama Sutra right next to it. That’s never the case. Libraries have collection development policies for ordering books, and appropriate books are placed in the appropriate section. Public libraries do not purchase pornography. Adult books are not in the library’s children section, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

I’m going to attempt to dispel a few of the falsehoods being told by the alt-right talking heads who don’t seem to have stepped into a library since they were children decades ago. So please pardon me while I put on my cardigan, push my glasses up my nose, and attempt to explain a few of the little-known intricacies of today’s modern libraries.

This is why library policies should be created by professional librarians who understand these differences and nuances. I get so frustrated when a member of our Parish Council, the local governing board, tries to say how libraries “should be.” Not only are these critics not trained, but most have never stepped foot in our public libraries. They don’t understand collection development and the purchasing decisions librarians must make.

Librarians cannot possibly read every single book before making a purchase, although we do try. Librarians are human, after all.

Pro-censors will claim that a book isn’t banned if it is returned to the shelf, but a book unavailable to readers even for a few days was still banned at one point. I get upset when I hear about libraries taking books off the shelves while going through the review process, because as a friend of mine named Marla pointed out at a recent library board meeting, books should be considered innocent until proven guilty, just like people.

“Libraries are not daycare centers.” A parent shouldn’t just drop off their child at the local courthouse or Walmart, just like they shouldn’t be dropping their minor children off at the library. Public libraries have adult sections because they also serve adults. If you don’t want your child near adult material, you should monitor your own child.

I asked John Chrastka of EveryLibrary his opinion, and he pointed out that in Louisiana sixteen-year-olds can get married. I hadn’t even thought of that. Sixteen-year-olds can also have jobs. Wanting to ban a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old from entering the library without an adult when they can work and get married at that age is perverse to me.

If you do not want your five-year-old to see books written for younger children on sexual reproduction, steer them away from those books. If you don’t want them to see books on sexual reproduction for teenagers, parents should make sure their five-year-olds don’t wander into sections of the library meant for teenagers and young adults. In fact, if you are a parent dropping off a minor, or not monitoring your own child, you are likely breaking library policy. It really is that simple.

It provides a presumption in favor of censoring books, when actually the presumption should be that creative works are protected from government censorship except in extraordinarily rare circumstances.

The current wave of book banning sweeping the country has created a chilling effect on our education system and the purchasing of books in our libraries, the effects of which will be seen for decades even if we somehow get it under control in the next year.

It is about marginalizing and erasing cultures and groups of people, it is about defunding public institutions, it is about dumbing down society for a more easily led population, and it is about using libraries for political gain. At the end of the day, the pro-censorship movement is about privatizing education and privatizing libraries for a group of people who are seeking to line their pockets. And to achieve those goals, otherwise well-meaning people have been enlisted in a social movement that goes against everything America stands for. That’s the really sad and tragic thing.

It’s hard to say that your community values libraries when the library shares a bathroom with the washeteria and a convenience store, so I was proud when we decided to pass a library tax to make improvements.

Even at such a young age, I was aware that I was viewed as the funny one of the group, and not the prettiest, due to my size. It can seem like the end of the world in elementary school when you are five to six inches taller than most of the kids in your class and a good forty pounds heavier.

Her books were honest and raw, and they made me think about topics I hadn’t thought about before. As I got older, I realized that not everyone liked her books as much as I did and that she is one of the most banned authors of all time. Those people are missing out. I am so very fortunate that I had parents who allowed me to explore life through literature

In my opinion, allowing children to explore the world through books is one of the most precious gifts you can give a child.

Reading is reading is reading. Foster what they love. Maybe they will expand to other formats. Maybe not. To me, fostering a love of literature is important no matter if the format is a novel, graphic novel, or audiobook.

You were extra cool if you had a Bible cover to put on your Bible, because then it would look like a purse.

It’s so funny to be reminded of something so small but was such a Thing for me.

I tended to keep quiet about the negativity. Now I will not. Now I will shame them if they’re an adult. Do I hear less of it now because people know not to speak that way around me, or do I hear less of it because things are getting better? Probably the first one.

I guess when some accuse me of catching the “woke disease,” it’s true. I finally woke up. I find it hard to forgive myself for not doing it sooner and will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it.

Once your eyes begin to open with one realization, it becomes a domino effect of continual learning.

That might be the most maddening part of being defamed online—knowing the character of the people throwing the stones while they sit on a moral high horse.

They wanted to silence me, which cemented my will to speak my truth.

Librarians excel at curation. It’s one of the things we do best. Running your mouth on social media is weak, but collecting knowledge is power.

“Fascism is hungry. So hungry it eventually eats itself. We are just trying to keep it from completely swallowing the library in the process.”

This is insane. We are your mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, friends and neighbors, cousins and members of your congregation. We implore you to listen to common sense.

If you come across a bear, never push a slower friend down … even if you feel the friendship has run its course. —NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ON TWITTER/X, FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Nothing says small town Friday night like standing around in a pile of gravel in the middle of nowhere.

Much like critical race theory, if you ask the people who use the term to define it, they usually cannot. But that doesn’t mean they won’t swear that it’s taking over our schools. It’s like the mythical creature Baba Yaga. They’ve never seen her, but they just know that she’s there lurking in the shadows, waiting to get their kids.

A policy that turns neighbors into Stasi-era informants should terrify everyone.

One of our roles as school librarians is to teach digital citizenship. We teach kids about their digital footprint, ways to stay safe online, and how to report and prevent cyberbullying. While school librarians are teaching these skills, their parents and grandparents offer up real-world examples of how NOT to act online. Children emulate those they trust and care for, and that’s often their parents, family members, or trusted adults. The kids are watching, and I can only hope that they see the hate for what it is and choose to be better.

We should ALL want the freedom to read what we want to read and have access to reading materials from a variety of viewpoints. Protecting our libraries is exactly how we do that.

I grew up in this parish being taught that God is love. What I’ve come to realize is that what many people mean is that God is love only if you have the same religious and political beliefs as them.

And none for Kirk Cameron. Bye.