I did a special post last year during 'Banned Books Week' and I'm going to do a rerun of part of it. Then I'll ask a question at the end of the post and hope you'll share your answer. First of all, here's what I had to say last year about 'banned books'.
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As a former library employee, I certainly have my own opinions about banned books and we always highlighted some of the so-called 'banned' books during my time there. I used to love doing a big display of some of the books and then watching them be picked up and checked out during that week. Doing my little part to see that those books or ones like them circulated.
So, you may be asking - what are banned or challenged books? They are books or materials that someone wishes to remove from the library shelves or restrict in some manner. Here's a link to the American Library Association's website. And here's a link to several lists of frequently challenged books. In my years of working at a library, I talked about books with patrons all the time. Sometimes, people would have a question about a certain book - was it appropriate for children or was it shelved in the most appropriate location? Occasionally, someone would ask how they could get the library to remove a book from the shelf permanently. I don't think I ever thought that anyone did this with bad intentions. More often than not, it was about their children and about protecting them from what they perceived as 'bad things'.
One of my first questions was always, 'have you read the book yourself?'. Sometimes the answer was yes, often it was no. Sometimes I would have personal knowledge of the book or material mentioned, having read it myself. Sometimes not. I was not the manager of my branch and so I would pass along information about how they could pursue their challenge if they wanted to. However, there were times when I could talk them through their uncertainty and provide information enough to satisfy them. I always suggested that they read any book that had been assigned to their child or indeed that their child wanted to read, if they had concerns. I would explain that in my experience, tough topics learned about together with your child could provide much food for discussion. I would relate my own experience as a parent and try to find common ground. I would also suggest that if their child had been assigned a book at school and they, as the parent, genuinely felt uncomfortable with it, talk to the teacher and ask for a substitute book. It would always be given.
Occasionally, a patron would be angry and belligerent regarding some library material. Usually, these individuals were not interested in discussion - they just wanted their way. Happily, we didn't have too many of those instances. The assistant manager of my branch was on a committee that considered challenges that had been bumped up the line to the library director's office and they met monthly, read the books or materials challenged, and then made recommendations to the director for her decision-making process.
Did I ever see a book banned while I was there? I honestly can't remember one. I did see a few items removed from the children's section and moved to the adult shelves. One in particular, and I can't remember the name but it was about women's bodies, I felt was a good decision. It was still available, but not so easily picked up by a young child.
So, take a look at the books most frequently challenged in 1990-1999. And the books most frequently challenged in 2000-2009. Are you surprised at some of them?
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I encourage you to think about how you might answer this question. Please feel free to share in a comment if you feel comfortable with that. We'd all be interested I'm sure.
My answer: My dear, dear mother. She taught me to read when I was 4 and before that, she read to me all the time. We didn't have a lot of money and I didn't grow up owning lots of books, but there were a few. What she did do was support me in my love of books. She took me and my siblings to the library often. She never seemed upset that I read so very much as a kid but she'd get annoyed when others made comments about it. She was not a big reader herself, but she encouraged me to be one. I miss her.
I see that one of the best books ever written is on both lists: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
ReplyDeleteIt is the LEAST racist book ever written, if only people would read it. (Notice, many people put the word "The" at the beginning of the title,but Mark Twain did NOT!)
Kay, I understand your frustration. There are a lot of books listed there that make me shake my head. :-)
DeleteMy parents encouraged me to read all the books, and so I encouraged my children the same way. The ones that were disturbing to me got drowned out by the many, many voices of the others. This is how a kid grows up to learn discernment!
ReplyDeleteJeanne, I've always felt that it's good to encourage kids to read a wide range of books. Appropriate for their age, of course. Which is why I think that parents should take an active part in reading to or with their children.
DeleteWhen I taught school I had one student whose parents requested another book instead of The Scarlet Letter! You never know what people will find offensive, and even colleges now have trouble with some of their reading lists. My mother always encouraged my reading, but my father ended up insisting that along with fiction, I include some nonfiction. My blessings and gratitude to them both.
ReplyDeleteYes, I used to tell parents who had concerns that they should read the book themselves. If they still had concerns, ask for a substitute. You are right in saying that we never know exactly what might upset someone. Sounds like your folks were great role models in that regard.
DeleteYour mother sounds very much like my mother. I never saw my mother read a fiction book. She read the newspaper every day and magazines. But she was the one who took me and my brother and sister to the library and read to me when I was young. My father brought home non-fiction books from the library every two weeks and continued his education that way. My grandmother read a lot and also read mysteries like I do. It is good to remember all of these people and their influence on my reading.
ReplyDeleteTracy, thanks for sharing your story. My mother rarely read anything, but I'll always be grateful for her encouragement. Your family sounds wonderful in that regard.
DeleteLike you, I credit the love of reading to my mom. She would take me book shopping when I was a little girl and she would let me choose my books. I always felt like such a grown up doing that. My parents always encouraged my trips to the library and the bookstore and they always let me choose what items to read.
ReplyDeleteIliana, how wonderful that your parents took part in making books part of your life in such an active way. Such a blessing!
DeleteFirst, several of those books are in my house. They were required reading when my kids were in high school, during the time they were "banned". One of my favorite all time books is on the list: A Wrinkle in Time. That is also in reach of me as "we speak". I think they have banned books that the didn't like or weren't interested in reading and decided no one should read them. My answer - don't read them. Makes me think of the "Smut Snatcher Society" in Greater Tuna. Similar to you Kay, my mother taught me to read when I was 4. Starting with McGuffey's First Reader. Once I started school, we got to visit the school library once a week, I think, and check out a book. During the summer, I either walked myself to the library at the age of 7 even (I wonder if that would happen now) and once we moved to a larger town, the bookmobile came every week across the street. I always checked out maximum number allowed. :)
ReplyDeleteA bookmobile parked near my house when I was in high school, Gayle. This was before they built the library at Spicewood or at Old Quarry. We were the northernmost point of the Austin Public Library at that time. Anyway, I think I read almost every book in the bookmobile. LOL
DeleteIn truth, reading was a part of my life from so early that I can't really say anyone encouraged me. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say everyone did. My Dad taught me to read when I was three, and from then on I needed no encouragement - my earliest memories all include books. I guess the encouragement came from the fact of books being available in the house (I had three older siblings, so no shortage of age appropriate books all through childhood) and of it being the norm in my family for gifts to be primarily books. I never had a birthday or Christmas that didn't involve books and book tokens - still don't. If I ever was ill, my Dad would buy me a Ladybird book, which worked considerably better than medicine! My eldest sister took me to the library with her every week. My brother, who's closest in age to me, and I shared and swapped books. And as soon as teachers knew I was a reader, they started feeding me books too. For many, many years, I thought a life full of books was simply the norm - it never occurred to me that other kids had different experiences...
ReplyDeleteI love this story! So great that you had a heritage of reading in your family - all of you!
DeleteBoth my parents encouraged me to read, Dad read me bedtime stories, or made them up himself and Mum lways had a book on the go and took me to the library from about the age of four. I could read by then but have no idea how I learned to read.
ReplyDeleteSome/most of those banned books surprised me!
Yes, you just never know what will upset people. Margaret, I think most of us have been readers for so long, it's hard to remember when that wasn't part of our lives!
DeleteI would say my brother. He is 12 years older then me and was always reading. I didn't fall in love with Stephen King like him but give me a good mystery, thriller, the scarier and gory the better and I am all in. I was watching horror movies far to young too, lol.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe books are banned in 2016.
Well, Marce, some things changes and some things remain the same. There will always be things that upset people and therefore make them want to 'challenge' things.
DeleteDefinitely my parents. I loved them for never policing my reading life. They assumed that if I could read it, then I can read it. We never really had any kind of bedtime reading sessions at home - we were all of the read-your-book-by-yourself kind. But they made sure I had plenty to read. In fact, they were happiest when I was burrowed deep in a book, lol.
ReplyDeleteI think my mother was happiest when I was reading too! She said she never had worry where I was or what I was doing. LOL
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