“Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress truth.”
– Wole Soyinka, The Man Died: The Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka
These blog posts serve as a way to share information on what is occurring in libraries throughout our state. Most of the time, the posts center around book banning and censorship attempts in libraries because that is what we are seeing.
We did recently make a post about the protests outside the Forsyth County Public Library (accessible here) that did not feature book bans, but did feature alarming behaviors taking place outside a library.
The posts serve as a way to inform library workers, as well as library advocates, of what is happening in order to encourage and enact change. We want to bring this to the forefront so that libraries can remain a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all.
When writing these posts, I frequently add my own opinion to the topic at hand. I feel it is important to emphasize that these events occurring affect real people and can make lives better, or worse. Adding my own opinion allows the topic to be brought forth with a human element. At the end of the day, what we do is very much human focused. We want the people in our communities to feel they have a voice and a place that will provide for their needs, regardless of our own feelings on a particular subject.
Today’s post is very largely an opinion piece, but one based in fact. I will attempt to highlight real-world examples of what I discuss, using one of our NC counties as the backdrop.
Johnston County, NC is located outside Wake County and is home to the seventh largest school district in the state. The county leans Republican in their voting patterns, but within the past several years has begun to shift more Democratic. However, at the time of the events we will focus on today, the county school board was majority Republican.
In 2023, Senate Bill 49 was passed in NC. We have discussed this Bill several times in these posts. Otherwise known as the Parents Bill of Rights, the Bill banned any education on gender identity, sexuality, or sexual orientation in K-4th grades. According to the language in the Bill, this included the curriculum, textbooks, and any supplementary materials. It also required teachers to inform parents when their child requested to be called by another name or to use pronouns different than those assigned at birth.
Schools around the state began making plans for how they would comply with the new law. Some schools were more hesitant to implement the new restrictions, as we saw in the blog post about The Chapel Hill School District. Many sought out legal advice to make sure they were compliant with the language in the Bill.
And then you had Johnston County.
The Johnston County Board of Education took the language in the Bill and used it to further limit and control access to information regarding gender identity, sexuality, and sexual orientation. Though the Bill called for instruction and materials to be excluded from K-4th grades, the board decided to expand it to include 5th grade.
Thus, they decreed that all materials, in the classroom and in the libraries, in the Elementary Schools be removed if it featured any characters or made any mention of anyone of the LGBTQ+ persuasion.
The NC Values Coalition, those who are against the entire LGBTQ+ community, lauded the school board for “going above and beyond” the language in the Bill. This is the same NC Values Coalition that has called for harsher Bills to be passed that would take away access to materials in all libraries, school or otherwise, for everyone if it involves what they term to be “inappropriate” and “disgusting” content (More information about their opinions toward the LGBTQ+ community can be found through their website).
Though the language in Senate Bill 49 did not expressly call for the limiting of library materials, instead using the term “supplementary”, the school board included the school libraries, and their materials, in their decree.
Likewise, though the Bill only referred to students in K-4th, the board also decreed that anytime a child asked a teacher a question that in any way was associated with the outlawed topics, the teacher needed to not only ignore the question, but report it to the child’s parents.
Johnston County is certainly not the only county in the state to make decisions that expanded on the language in the Bill. In some cases, it was due to fear over not complying appropriately. One of our earlier posts focused on the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools system and their approach to the Parents Bill of Rights. They stopped using their eBook platform and switched to a different one that greatly limited the materials offered so as to comply with parents having more say in what their child could and could not access.
All this to say that the Parents Bill of Rights, or Senate Bill 49, caused quite a bit of trouble for students and families. Though what follows will largely be my own opinion, it should be noted that throughout these posts I have highlighted the resources I used to craft the posts. These include news articles and opinion pieces from those who are in the area where the post took place. There are many throughout the state who feel similar things to what I will share and those concerns are valid.
We know, as library workers and library advocates, that libraries, regardless of what type, fulfill a role in their given community. This role may be research or recreation. It genuinely doesn’t matter what the role is. What matters is whether or not it is fulfilling that role in the way it should.
For example, if an academic library were to stop offering research materials and computers to its students, and instead only offer fiction novels, the students’ ability to do classwork would greatly diminish. The library would no longer be serving the role it was designed for.
School libraries serve purposes for both recreation and growth. Children and teens may check out materials that help them with research projects, or check out materials that will better their vocabulary and real-world understanding. These materials are selected by individuals who have been trained and educated in collection development, and are aware of the items that will best serve their student population.
This growth can only happen when children are able to see themselves reflected in the materials they access. In terms of child development, it helps them process and make sense of the world around them, for good or ill. It also helps them develop empathy and compassion for others when being faced with something they have never seen before.
When Bills such as the one here are passed, taking away access to materials that feature diverse topics and characters, children have a more limited world view, and it can drastically damage their own self-image when they don’t see their own circumstances represented.
Think of the child who has same-sex parents. This child looks through books being offered in the library and does not find one that has a family that looks like theirs. They then go and question the teacher about why the teacher only uses classroom books with a mommy and a daddy. The teacher does not answer, and instead tells the child’s parents about the question. The child’s parents then have to figure out how they will explain to their child why their family makes others uncomfortable.
These are real-world conversations and circumstances occurring across the country as more and more laws are being passed trying to limit materials for children and teens.
In the majority of these posts, we have seen that language being used in these Bills are vague enough that books being targeted often have nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ community. It may have no more than a mere mention of a side character who is in the community, and it is being challenged.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that books featuring people of color, or discussing the experiences of people of color, are also being targeted, along with books featuring disabilities, death, rape, sexual assault, and strong female characters.
We know that banning books does more harm than good. Limiting people to materials that only feature a specific part of the population causes children to develop poor self-image, a lack of empathy, and also hinders their ability to think critically and make connections to the world around them.
But we also know that banning books does not ban ideas. The ideas behind the books will still continue, even if the material itself is banned.
We can look back at famous examples through history where a country or region banned certain materials. The most famous example we use today is Germany during Hitler’s regime, when books were not only being banned, but they were being burned in mass droves. Of course, we also know that he ordered more than books to be burned (i.e. art). But we also know that there are examples in our country within the last few years where certain citizens have held book burning parties.
We understand, as library workers and advocates, that there are real concerns out there for what materials children are accessing. But we also understand that it should be up to each individual child’s parent what that child accesses. No one person, or group of people, should have the ability to tell other people’s children what they can and cannot read.
If we look at today’s example from Johnston County, we can see that this Board of Education took away the ability of parents to choose what material their child could access.
Many of the arguments we see from advocates of book banning would say one of two things.
- They can just go buy the books themselves. This is not always feasible. Sometimes families do not have the ability to go and purchase books whenever they like.
- They can go to the public library and check it out. The problem with this is two-fold. Many are also calling for book banning in public libraries which would take away that option. But some parents also do not have the time to go to the public library with their child. There could be any number of reasons why, but if they aren’t able to go, then the school library is their only option.
Johnston County does have those against book banning. Back in 2022, it was reported that a large group of citizens of the county came together to fight against book banning. We have seen these efforts in other posts as well, where groups of individuals will go to board meetings, or commissioner meetings, to share their displease with policies and decisions being made in favor of book banning.
It is wonderful that we have so many advocates in our communities who do support us. I am sure we all have stories of our patrons who sing our praises to anyone who will listen. I joke at my current library with one parent that we don’t need to market our programs anymore because he will tell anyone in his general vicinity about all of our programs whenever he can.
I know that many across our state are facing book challenges, or challenges to the library. At times it can feel overwhelming and disheartening. You are not alone. We here at Read Free NC have created this site as a place to find resources and help when needed. If you are dealing with challenges in your library and you are unsure what to do, reach out to us. We can point you in the direction you need to go.
Remember: libraries continue to serve a purpose in the community and many rely on us for the services we provide. There may be those who are fighting us, but there are also those who will fight for us. Never forget how important your role is.
If you have not heard it yet today, thank you for all you do for your community!
Resources:
https://downhomenc.org/2022/04/07/students-need-books-not-book-bans
https://qnotescarolinas.com/johnston-county-boe-bans-books-on-gender-identity-in-elementary-schools/
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article280370129.html
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article281586098.html