Missouri has opened its door wide to book challenges, including in St. Charles County. There, protesters at meetings have called sex education books 鈥済ross鈥 while others speak against censorship efforts.
On the flip side, Illinois has passed a law to defend libraries. But that doesn鈥檛 mean book advocates aren鈥檛 on alert there, too.
In Collinsville, increasing numbers of people attend board meetings in the Mississippi Valley Library District. In September, more than 35 people, some wearing shirts proclaiming 鈥淯nited Against Hate鈥 and 鈥淎lly,鈥 crammed into a small space and many cheered loudly when patrons spoke in favor of keeping the library鈥檚 offerings diverse.
Concern had risen over incidents involving new trustees who were backed by a political conservative in the April election:
鈥 In May, the new president stated she didn鈥檛 want a 鈥渟ocial agenda鈥 in the library.
People are also reading…
鈥 That same month, the new vice president offered that she opposed drag queen story times (a position stemming from a single event in 2022). She said that she wasn鈥檛 discriminating against 鈥済ay people.鈥 When someone asked about LGBTQ people 鈥渟haring their stories,鈥 she responded, 鈥淭hey can find their role models elsewhere.鈥 A recording of the on the library鈥檚 website.
鈥 In the meantime, a children鈥檚 book on sex education was quietly reshelved in the Collinsville library鈥檚 鈥減arents information鈥 section after an informal complaint by one new trustee. The book, 鈥淚t鈥檚 Perfectly Normal,鈥 listed for ages 10 and up, has also been a target in the St. Charles City-County Library.
鈥 The board president removed rainbow bookmarks in June that were part of a 鈥淟ibraries Transform鈥 campaign.
Even though the library director had the bookmarks put back on view, such efforts to challenge library displays or 鈥渙ther materials鈥 make up about 13% of reported censorship attempts in libraries across U.S., according to the American Library Association.
Such examples aren鈥檛 necessarily successful or official challenges, but some people call them efforts at or informal book banning 鈥 and they are likely a lot more common than readers know.
In Missouri, a spokeswoman for the St. Charles City-County Library said branches would not have displays for Banned Book Week.
Book challenges rise
The ALA has counted censorship attempts for 20 years, saying it likely hears about only a small portion of book challenges. But the attempts are rising and more successful 鈥 especially in school libraries 鈥 than ever, say the ALA and Pen America.
Missouri now ranks No. 3 among states that have banned books in schools over the last year, according to a PEN America report released Thursday.聽
2023 is on track to top last year鈥檚 record for book challenges, the ALA says, and Pen America counts Missouri as No. 3 in number of books removed from school shelves. The state, like Florida and Texas, has a law against explicit images without literary merit. Missouri鈥檚 2022 law, which threatens jail time for school teachers and librarians, is believed to encourage schools to err on the side of safety.
The rise in challenges has been linked to conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, whose website lists chapters in 狐狸视频 County and St. Charles County. Moms for Liberty is on the 鈥渉ate map鈥 of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit focusing on civil rights, because many of the challenged books are by Black authors or feature Black or LGBTQ subjects.
In Florida, an found that some 600 of 1,100 formal complaints since July 2022 came from just two people, one a man who founded the Florida chapter of No Left Turn in Education. The newspaper says, 鈥淭he data illustrates how a tiny minority of activists across the state can overwhelm school districts while shaping the national conversation over what books belong on school library shelves.鈥
EveryLibrary Institute commissioned a public opinion poll this summer by a nonpartisan research firm. It found that opposed book bans (it had a margin of error of 3.4%).
The ALA highlights its annual Banned Books Week from Oct. 1-7, with actor LeVar Burton as honorary chair of this year鈥檚 event, titled 鈥淟et Freedom Read.鈥 It helps American residents understand threats of censorship and book challenges, both explicit and 鈥渟hadow,鈥 and offers ideas on how to fight to keep library collections open to diverse information.
The ALA quotes Burton as saying 鈥渢he ability to read and access books is a fundamental right and a necessity for life-long success. ... Public advocacy campaigns like Banned Books Week are essential to helping people understand the scope of book censorship and what they can do to fight it.鈥
At its June convention, one ALA panel summarized efforts to challenge books: 鈥淩esearch shows that the movement to ban books is pushed by advocacy groups, using inflammatory language such as 鈥榞rooming鈥 鈥榩edophile鈥 and 鈥榩ornography鈥 publicly, and then submitting lists with hundreds of books for censorship. Many of these groups espouse 鈥楥hristian nationalist political views,鈥 or declare a mission to reform public schools.鈥
In St. Charles County, parent Mandi Morris believes that attacks on that area鈥檚 library are often from people who haven鈥檛 read a book 鈥渂ut heard there was a dirty part.鈥
Although challenges against books 鈥済et so loud,鈥 she said, she believes most people in St. Charles County don鈥檛 support book bans. She supports libraries and schools by attending meetings and by writing emails to teachers and librarians, letting them know she鈥檚 willing to advocate on their behalf.
A little free library box sits in her family鈥檚 front yard: 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to be advocates for book reading.鈥
The ALA says 鈥渁ll library users have the First Amendment right to borrow, read, view and listen to library resources鈥 and that parents can limit what their own children read 鈥 but not what other families鈥 kids read.
Library worries
鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 a good sign that more people want to keep track of what鈥檚 going on,鈥 says Margie Wright, who has been involved for more than 30 years with a friends group supporting the Mississippi Valley Library District, which has a library in Fairmont City in addition to the larger one in Collinsville. The district serves about 33,000 residents.
At the September meeting, the retired reading instructor said she supports the new Illinois law that requires its state libraries to have policies against book banning. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, says libraries can lose state funds if they ban books.
鈥淧eople who object to things often haven鈥檛 read them,鈥 Wright says. She experienced complaints when she was a school librarian before becoming a reading teacher. 鈥淲e鈥檙e usually dealing with heresay and lack of knowledge.鈥
Another resident, Traci Vanek, says she鈥檚 鈥渧ery happy that people are coming to the library board meetings. I鈥檝e been (Facebook) posting for a while that the only way we鈥檙e going to keep this board in check is to come to the meetings.鈥
Vanek, who has four children, has lived in Collinsville for 27 years. She says she believes vice president Ginny York鈥檚 statements against LGBTQ 鈥渞ole models鈥 in May and President Jeanne Lomax鈥檚 position against 鈥渟ocial agendas鈥 have motivated more residents to attend the library trustee meetings.
鈥淚 want to make sure we have a library that is inclusive for all,鈥 she says.
For the September meeting, resident Cynthia Klein-Webb asked about reports she鈥檇 heard that rainbow 鈥淟ibraries Transform鈥 bookmarks had been removed. No trustee answered her question.
She also submitted a letter to the board expressing support for the library and its staff and her hope that the building will remain a 鈥渞efuge鈥 for all people. Klein-Webb said library trustees should understand ALA guidelines and shouldn鈥檛 highlight their specific 鈥渞eligious and political beliefs.鈥
Library director Kyla Waltermire said in an interview that she expected the library to have a display for Banned Books Week. But she acknowledged that her library does not actually own copies of some of the most challenged books: 鈥淕ender Queer,鈥 鈥淣ot All Boys Are Blue鈥 and 鈥淭his Book Is Gay.鈥 Another challenged book is recorded as lost, she said. In Illinois, libraries throughout the state share requested books not owned by a patron鈥檚 home library. But some observers believe having to request and wait for a book may deter teen readers.
The Illinois secretary of state told a U.S. Senate Judiciary committee in September that libraries have become 鈥渢hunderdomes鈥 of conflict. Five libraries in northern Illinois reported bomb threats recently. Earlier this year, Waltermire and the library were sent mail with an anonymous swastika and a symbol of pedophilia. She filed police reports.
What is 鈥榥eutral鈥?
Book challenges often accuse titles of being too sexually explicit, too violent or containing LGBTQ content. And, as some critics say, books usually aren鈥檛 鈥渂anned鈥 but challenged.
In Collinsville, library board president Jeanne Lomax says she wants the library district to be 鈥渘eutral.鈥 She says it should not push any sort of 鈥渟ocial, religious or political agenda.鈥
But she removed the rainbow 鈥淟ibraries Transform鈥 bookmarks because it was 鈥渁 clear message they are pushing that LGBT agenda.鈥
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 see any religious bookmarks,鈥 she said.
The Libraries Transform bookmarks, based on a patron鈥檚 photograph, included sentences such as 鈥淏ecause books show us every color of the rainbow鈥 and 鈥淏ecause hands-on learning builds stronger brains.鈥
Her children are grown, but Lomax says some library books aren鈥檛 age appropriate and 鈥渘ormalize sexual activity.鈥
鈥淚 think our children are losing their innocence at such an early age,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the library鈥檚 job to do Pride month,鈥 she adds.
But she also says she doesn鈥檛 care what adults check out for their own kids. 鈥淚鈥檓 for free will.鈥
She has been supported at board meetings by some residents, although they were quieter in September than the advocates for diverse books.
But how does a library, which carries material for all patrons, remain 鈥渘eutral鈥?
Lisa Gilbert, a lecturer in the education department at Washington University, teaches a 鈥淕ender and Education鈥 class. She says 鈥渘eutrality鈥 is likely impossible: 鈥淭he absence of a book is a political decision just like the presence of a book is a political decision.鈥
She also says 鈥渨e cannot be neutral about the foundational values of our democracies.鈥 As a diverse nation with citizens who have different viewpoints, the 鈥渇reedom to explore our viewpoints together is fundamental to our democracy. If we don鈥檛 have that, our democracy is threatened.鈥
Classrooms and libraries help readers gain empathy for others and express their faith in students by having books about tough topics on their shelves, Gilbert says. It shows a 鈥渧ote of confidence鈥 in a young person, she says:
鈥淚t says we believe you can think about hard topics and come up with your own viewpoints on them. And that we are willing to sit by your side as you do that.鈥
The American Library Association adopted its first Library Bill of Rights in 1939. The polic…