“Something will be offensive to someone in every book, so you’ve got to fight it.”
– Judy Blume
I have written before that as library workers, it can be disheartening to see the situations arising with book challenges and censoring.
It does not get easier…
In fact, it is just the opposite…
The more I read about what is happening in libraries across our state and the country as a whole, the more disheartened I get.
And all the other emotions that come with it; anger, fear, sadness, trepidation, anxiety, hopelessness, and more.
It is especially infuriating that there are so few people who actually want book bans. The majority of people are against them. Yet, for some reason, even though there aren’t many in favor of them, books are being banned at alarming rates.
Why is that?
Years ago, I attended a webinar that explained why library funding is so hard to come by and why so many claim that libraries are not needed. In the webinar they said that so few people actually advocate for their libraries, even if they support them, for various reasons. If you have a group of 100 people, of that 100, 70 may use the library regularly, 40 may share their love of the library with the staff, but only 1 person would be an actual advocate and share their love with the powers that be.
If we take that same principle and apply it to these circumstances, then there aren’t very many people who are going to board meetings, commissioners meetings, or any of the governing body meetings, to share their support of the library and speak out against book censoring.
However, there are a WHOLE lot of people who are going to share their disdain for libraries and speak about their wants to limit access to materials they find offensive.
So, even though they are a small minority, that small minority is screaming very loudly right now, while the majority are not speaking out enough.
That is something to think about as we look into today’s topic.
We travel now to the coast and a county that borders one we have already discussed.
Pender County sits to the direct northeast of New Hanover County. It is the home of towns such as Burgaw, Maple Hill, and Saint Helena. The population as of 2020 was around 61,000. It sits on the Atlantic and offers beautiful and scenic vistas.
It has also been dealing with book censoring for a couple of years now.
Something that will not be a new concept to anyone reading these blog posts (or watching the news related to libraries across the U.S.), is that there are a bunch of right-wing groups that have formed with the purpose of removing books from school and public libraries. These groups often use misinformation to get people fired up and to garner support for their endeavors.
This case is no different.
In 2022, a list was brought forward to the Pender County School Board that had a list of books a particular group wanted removed. This group kept informed of “offensive” books by reading lists put forth by the Pavement Education Project.
On these lists, in a shocking twist seen by everyone, were books the PEP claimed were pornographic, promoted transgender youth, and violence (Blankenship, 2023).
The board, according to the above article, ignored the list at the time.
What may, or may not, be a shock to anyone is that one of the driving characters in this story, also made an appearance in the one from New Hanover County.
Mike Korn created the list in 2022 that was rejected by the Pender County School Board. However, that did not stop him, and his group, from trying again, in Pender and also in New Hanover County (Flanagan, 2023, July 16).
After being turned down in 2022, Korn and his group rallied. They continued growing their list of books that were “questionable”, eventually totalling 100 books, all found with the Pavement Education Project lists (Blankenship, 2023).
In February 2023, the Pender County School Board received a 28-page document listing out 40+ books that a group calling themselves the Concerned Citizens of Pender County put together. This list included numerous LGBTQ+ titles that the group claimed were “pornographic” (Hoover, 2023).
The group did not go through the proper channels to have the titles challenged, meaning they did not fill out the Reconsideration of Materials forms and go through the removal process. Instead, they created the document detailing why they believed the items in question should be removed and expected that the information they provided would be enough for the board (Hoover, 2023).
One of the group, Korn, admitted that he had not actually read the books on the list.
Much as we have seen with these cases before where a list is found online and the people screaming that they need to be removed from libraries do not actually have any idea what is truly in the books. Being told about them is enough, somehow.
But, I digress…
The board, instead of insisting they go through the process, voted to initiate a review of the books. This meant that all 40+ books were removed from school shelves while the review process was underway (Blankenship, 2023).
Multiple parents shared their concerns with book censoring at the same board meeting, according to the Blankenship article. Voices were heard saying that they did not agree with removing books from school shelves as that would hinder students ability to think for themselves. However, there were more dissenting voices speaking out in favor of removal (Blankenship, 2023).
This, again, shows us the idea that the minority are heard because they are screaming the loudest. If the vast majority of people are not in favor of book censoring, yet won’t show up to speak out and represent the larger numbers, then the minority who are able to gather in force and speak out negatively are going to appear as the larger group.
As we see here.
So, the school board voted to have the books undergo a review process, and that automatically meant schools needed to pull the books from shelves.
A later news article made reference to 7 titles (8 books total) being removed from 4 schools after the review process, saying that it was up to each individual school if they wanted the books removed or not (Smith, 2023). Though the language in the article is unclear, it implies that the books were removed from the schools permanently, regardless of what the review decision was.
I could not find articles that discussed what came of the book review process for all 40+ titles so cannot say whether or not the decision was made to keep the books.
I did find an article from October 2023 that describes a board meeting in which one of the board members read aloud from 2 of the books on the list. This resulted in the board deciding to require parents permission to check out the books. The board member was quoted saying, “‘If a parent wants to let their child check this garbage out, they send a permission slip home to allow them to check the material out … that way I’m not violating anyone’s little rights,’ Springer said” (Flanagan, 2023, October 13).
The two books in question were Thirteen Reasons Why and A Court of Mist and Fury. Two books that have been banned in multiple schools and libraries across the country due to their sexual content.
At this same meeting, this board member made it clear that he did not care about parents’ rights to choose what books their child wants to read, as evidenced by his above statement. He targeted another board member during the meeting for disagreeing with his opinion and equated removing the books to a life or death situation he would have faced in the marines… (Flanagan, 2023, October 13).
The logic is stunning.
The only other articles I was able to find made reference to an event that occurred later in November.
In a news segment from November, 2023, a new policy had been proposed for book challenges that would have required a committee at each school to review challenges submitted to any school in the district and allowed parents 30-days to appeal a decision. However, it failed to pass (WECT News Staff, 2023).
While I am sure this story is still unfolding, I was not able to find much beyond this. If you have any additional information on how this story has evolved please reach out to us and let us know.
I mentioned it above and it is true that this story has several points we have seen repeated throughout these blog posts.
We have seen when groups such as Moms for Liberty have created lists of materials they find “offensive” or “inappropriate” and sent their members to Board, or Commissioners’ meetings to demand the materials be removed.
We have seen when those individuals have used language such as “groomers” or “pedophiles” when referring to library workers.
We have seen when those same people claim they are doing this to “protect the children”, and that they “are not book banning.”
We have seen all this before and will no doubt see more of it in the coming days, months, and years.
What we have not seen, and likely never will, is an explanation as to exactly why the fears over books have grown so exponentially in the last 5-7 years.
Books have become a favored target for those who believe that “dangerous ideologies” have become more easily accessible to children. These so-called “dangerous ideologies” usually refer to the LGBTQ+ community or information surrounding people of color.
It is interesting that we are fighting for funding due to our “irrelevance” and lack of contribution to the community, and yet we are also being targeted on a large scale for the materials we provide because children are accessing them.
So we are simultaneously important, yet not important?
The math ain’t mathing…
It is also interesting that books are being targeted for their content when anything can be accessed online. Anything. No matter what age you are.
Yet, presumably at least the majority of people who are speaking out in favor of book censoring or banning, have devices in their homes that can access the internet. Or televisions that have some sort of cable or streaming service on them that children can access.
We are all aware that books are no more “dangerous” than what can be found anywhere. Books are a tool we use to grow and expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
Yes, on a developmental level, there are books that children should not access before their brains are capable of understanding the information, but each child grows at different levels. Some may be better able to comprehend information well before others.
I will say that I was reading Nora Roberts books at age 11 because books that were supposed to be “for my age” were too easy and boring for me.
These are things of which we, as library workers, are aware. And I would venture to say that the majority who oppose book censoring are also aware.
Yet, we will more than likely continue fighting for the Freedom to Read for many years to come due to the politics involved.
Remember, it is our duty as library workers and Librarians to fight for our patrons First Amendment rights. Speak with your administration and ask what you can do to assist them in spreading the message of the library. Speak with your family and friends and ask for their active and vocal support of libraries. Contact your representative and share your support for libraries.
We can and will continue fighting for Intellectual Freedom and the First Amendment.
If you have not heard it yet today, thank you for everything you do for your community!
Resources:
Blankenship, Carl. (2023, February 15). “41 books will come off Pender County Schools shelves while they undergo review”. Port City Daily. https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2023/02/15/41-books-will-come-off-pender-county-schools-shelves-while-they-undergo-review/
Flanagan, Brenna. (2023, July 26). “NAACP slams NHC school board for ‘Stamped’ book hearing”. Port City Daily. https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2023/07/26/naacp-slams-nhc-school-board-for-stamped-book-hearing/
Flanagan, Brenna. (2023, October 13). “PCS restricts 2 ‘garbage’ library books previously OK’d after board member reads passages aloud”. Port City Daily. https://portcitydaily.com/latest-news/2023/10/13/pcs-restricts-2-garbage-library-books-previously-okd-after-board-member-reads-passages-aloud/
Hoover, Sydney. (2023, February 22). “‘We’re not about banning the books:’ 40 books pulled from Pender school libraries”. WECT News. https://www.wect.com/2023/02/22/were-not-about-banning-books-40-books-pulled-form-pender-school-libraries/
Lane, Juliana. (2023, May 9). “Pender County Board of Education discusses book ban at meeting”. WWAY News. https://www.wwaytv3.com/pender-county-board-of-education-discusses-book-ban-at-meeting/
Smith, Celeste. (2023, March 22). “Four schools remove books from libraries in Pender County Schools after review”. WWAY News. https://www.wwaytv3.com/four-schools-remove-books-from-libraries-in-pender-county-schools-after-review/
WECT News Staff. (2023, November 21). “Proposed changes to book removal policy fails to pass in Pender County school board”. WECT News. https://www.wect.com/video/2023/11/21/proposed-changes-book-removal-policy-fails-pass-pender-county-school-board/
(2023, November 14). “Scheduled Board Meeting”. Pender County Board of Education. https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2643/PCS/5100243/11-14-23_BOE_MINUTES.pdf