If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. Or in this case, it’s a book ban.
No one is banning books. No one is calling for books to be banned. It is about age appropriateness, and leaving politics out of kids minds.
For those saying, we’re trying to censor or book ban, we are not. You can actually buy these books. I think every parent could easily just go out and buy these books.
Nobody is saying we need to start burning books…
Public Comments, June Library Board Business Meeting
Despite their repeated protestations to the contrary, banning books (and yes, even calling for a bonfire to burn LGBTQ books) is exactly what some people have been trying to do in Douglas County ever since the April Board Business Meeting. It’s not a book ban if you can just buy the book, they say. They claim it’s not a book ban if you just need special permission to check a book out from a locked cabinet. One is left wondering what they think does constitute a book ban?
The American Library Association defines a challenge as an attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or group. (Douglas County Libraries policy refers to this as an appeal). Banning is the outright removal of those materials. Restricted access refers to when a resource is still technically available, but physical or virtual barriers exist (such as requiring parent permission to check out materials or locking books inside a cabinet). The American Library Association states that restricting access to library materials violates the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights — as do labelling systems intended to prejudice attitudes towards materials.
We need maybe a locked cabinet where you need to go ask the library for permission to show you the content that’s inappropriate for children.”
Public Comment, April Library Board Business Meeting
PEN America doesn’t split as many hairs, defining a book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.”
It all boils down to censorship.
The American Library Association (ALA) defines censorship as the suppression of ideas and information that some individuals, groups, or government officials find objectionable or dangerous. “Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove information they judge inappropriate or dangerous from public access, so that no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone.”
Sound familiar?
What we need to say is, are these books actually worthy of being in the library catalog, do they offer any sort of educational purpose, advance our culture and values,
Aaron Wood, founder of the conservative Christian men’s activist group Freedom Fathers
or are they simply just trash?”
Censorship doesn’t always come in the form of school/library board decisions or state laws. Soft censorship and self-censorship occurs when an educator or librarian chooses to not purchase a particular title for their collection (or deliberately weeds a title from their collection) out of fear of reprisal.
According to a recent School Library Journal Survey, 97% of respondents “weigh the impact of controversial subject matter” when deciding whether or not to purchase a book. Even though only 27% of respondents had received a formal challenge to materials, the unprecedented number of book ban attempts in recent years ensures it’s a question of “when” and not “if” for public school and public library professionals. In places where educators can now face felony prosecution for sharing diverse books or books that support social-emotional learning, it’s no wonder that self-censorship is on the rise.
(Speaking of self-censorship, have you sent a thank you email/letter to the Executive Library Director for standing firm for the right to read? It’s easy with our template! Make sure to copy the library trustees so they see your support).
Though library staff have declined to remove, relabel, relocate or otherwise censor the challenged books so far, the Douglas County Libraries Board of Trustees have the final say in the Appeals Process. The trustees will make their FINAL decision on several challenged books in just four weeks at their August Board Business Meeting.
Sign the petition and mark your calendars for 5:30PM on Wednesday, August 23rd at the Parker Library. We need YOU to tell our trustees that book bans (by any name) have no place in Douglas County!
Douglas County FReadom Defenders 