Missouri is, apparently, going all-in on banning books, because of our conservative leadership’s desperate goal of imitating Texas at every opportunity when it comes to social issues. I’ve read headlines of books being banned there or there, but I want to know about books being banned here. I’ve googled “banned books Viburnum Missouri” and gotten nothing specific. I’ve thought of contacting the district’s librarian, but a) this district treats what goes on inside its walls as state secrets; 2) I doubt she’s going to view an email asking about the books she’s banned as anything but an attempt to start a fight; and d) I don’t have any children enrolled in the district, so my “standing” (to borrow a legal term) in this case is limited, and that may affect her willingness to answer, which I’m going to suspect is already close to nonexistent.
Does the American Library Association have, like, case managers or whatever who follow these things more closely rather than broadly? Is there another angle from which I should be looking at this?
Since there’s no official process for banning books [yet…], there are lots of ways books end up not being available. USUALLY, the folks trying to ban books are proud of the fact, and announce it loudly - this is one good reason not to tune out disagreeable people. But it can be as simple as the librarian not buying certain books, misplacing others, and not hearing requests for certain titles. Asking questions at the school library might generate some friction - but you should be able to search the catalog at a public library and see if any ‘controversial’ titles are missing, or perpetually on hold. Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues
I don’t think you are going to be able to find the sort of list you are looking for, for a couple of reasons. First, challenges and bans are not on a state or townwide basis - individual school districts and library systems ban books in response to challenges and while a school district and library serving the same town may both ban a particular book or books, it is two separate decisions. Second , the ALA defines bans and challenges as
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials.
The ALA is not tracking instances where the person whose job it is to acquire books decides not to purchase a particular book or removes a book in the absence of objections from people/groups. There are many reasons to not purchase particular books or remove particular books that have nothing to do with banning - and it would be impossible to figure out how many of these non-purchases/removals are due to the staff’s personal objections to particular books rather than legitimate reasons.
Looks like the Missouri kerfuffle involves a new law banning “sexually explicit material” in schools.
"The Missouri Association of School Librarians, aware of the difficulty librarians in public libraries as well as in public and private schools may face, provided preliminary guidance. The association pointed to a potential exemption from the bill’s requirements, “if considered artistic or informational in nature.”
You could drive a semi convoy through that loophole.
The real problem will be parental pressure groups. I feel sorry for librarians caught in the crossfire.
Yeah, I can assure you that the Bible is on the shelves at the school’s library (as it should be; it is liteally a foundational piece of Western literature and Western philosophy). That book also contains descriptions of rape and incest, to say nothing of infanticide and genocide.
The Missouri Association of Librarians and Missouri Association of School Librarians both have Facebook pages. You might want to try and contact them to ask if they have lists.
What exactly is a “banned book”? Afaik, few books in the USA are currently banned, anywhere.
In several of the big hooplas over “banned books”, the book was simply taken off the reading list for certain grades. Not a “ban” imho, since in nearly every case, any student could walk into the school library and read it. Maus was one of these- it was not "banned’.
In others, the school library has decided not to buy it. Again- limited funds, so not a ban.
Next- a school library has pulled it from it’s shelves. That is a mild ban, as long as the public libraries still carry it. @Jackmannii cite there qualifies. But of course, out and out porn is always banned in school libraries, so it depends on how the ruling is carried out (Since it is Missouri , my money would be on “very poorly”, this looks bad).
Then we have the public libraries pulling it from the shelves- that is a ban.
A true ban would be the book can not be sold in the state, city, whatever. That doesn’t happen in the USA anymore, except of course in the case of porn.
Mostly, yes. In some ways we have it good here in the USA. We can call a book being pulled from a 4th grade reading list a “ban”- while in a few other nations they pile them up and burn them.
If there is an actual list, I would think a public records request might work. But, as noted above, you can’t prove a negative, i.e. books that weren’t purchased but don’t appear on any kind of “list.”
Are we talking about the books Conservatives want removed, or the ones thr Left wants removed? Because both want to control the books kids can read.
For example, To Kill a Mockingbird and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men are being challenged for racist language and stereotypes. TKAMB also has instances of the ‘N’ word, and has been challenged for having a ‘white saviour’ as the main character. It’s not the right going after those books.
And of course The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer have been attacked from the left and removed from many school libraries because of the ‘N’ word and racial depictions.
But none of this is ‘book banning’: It’s editorial discretion. We are talking about school curriculum and school libraries. There are a LOT of books schools won’t carry, for good reason. They are responsible for minors, and some material is just not age appropriate. There is also a finite amount of library space and budget, so editorial choices have to be made. And parents should also have a say in what their kids are allowed to read.
Their kids, yes. Everyone else’s kids, no. Don’t want them checking out a certain book from the library, tell them not to check it out. Problem solved.
[Moderating]
A stern reminder that this thread is in FQ. If you wish to debate any of the associated issues, you are welcome to open a new thread in GD.