Topic: Censorship
Banned Books Week is an annual event primarily in the United States which celebrates the freedom to read. This event was started in 1982 when there was a surge in a number of books being challenges within schools, bookstores, and libraries. Its goal is to highlight and bring attention to the harms of censorship and each year they compile a list of the most challenged books (Banned Books Week, 2022). Throughout the week they hold events that opens up the conversation around censorship with authors and illustrators who have been affected by these bans. Last year a webinar was held with Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, the authors of “Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice,” and Laurin Mayeno and Robert Trujillo, the author and artist of “One of a Kind, Like Me” (Banned Books Week, 2021).
Each of these picture books had been challenged and banned in different state of America as specific school boards thought that they would be detrimental to library collections. Something Happened in Our Town was thought to promote anti police ideals and One of a Kind, Like Me would confuse children’s gender identity. All of the authors and illustrators of the books were drawing from personal experiences and the books were written in a way that would be accessible to children, even though the content was dealing with important themes. It was interesting to listen to them speak about how they found out about the bans on their works and why they think books addressing these issues are important.
Like the discussion around diversity in children’s books it is vital that children and young adults are exposed to these issues in a respectful and accessible way. Marianne, Marietta and Ann highlighted that children are aware of the world around them and not naïve to the big issues, while Laurin explained that books can help children expand their knowledge of the world around them. When these bans happen, it has a widespread impact on the development of children and young adults. Intellectual freedom is the ability to learn from experiences in books and for children to see a reflection of themselves and in turn this allows them to grow into an informed citizen of the world (Pekoll, 2022, p.33).
After watching the webinar, I was interested in the Australian standard and how public libraries would deal with this issue. For libraries in New South Wales, the State Library has a guideline that deals with the topic of censorship which was framed using varying statements on free access to information and intellectual freedom. Public libraries have a duty to be an unbiased source of information and ideas and provide free and equitable access to the community (State Library of New South Wales, 2022). If items are challenged by members of the community, then it is important that the library has a well-developed collection development policy in which has concessions for these instances. For librarians’ censorship is an important issue that will always be present within any library setting. I feel very lucky that within Australia the way books are viewed is very differently to what happens within the US but as an information professional it is important, we know what is going on around the world.
Word Count: 548
References
Banned Books Week. (2021). Censorship of Children’s Books [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGw6subDAbM
Banned Books Week. (2022). About. https://bannedbooksweek.org/about/
Pekoll, K. (2020). Managing censorship challenges beyond books. Knowledge Quest, 49(1), 28-33.
State Library of New South Wales. (2022). Censorship. https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/public-library-services/censorship
When I worked within a school library it was one of the best parts of my job to connect those students who didn’t think they could read a full novel or they didn’t enjoy reading with a book that they ended up connecting with. At the start of the school year we would get a largeish intake of year 5 students from surrounding schools and most of them came from a school who didn’t have a strong reading culture. We didn’t mind so much because we knew that sooner or later even those reluctant readers would be able to find something from our many collections.
We had one particular student who we noticed that was borrowing a bunch of cookbooks each week, she wouldn’t make any of the recipes but loved looking at the pictures and reading the recipes. After 3 weeks we decided that we would try to engage and get her to borrow a fiction book. We had an informal chat about what types of books she liked and I got her a selection of graphic novels for her to have a look at. She ended up taking the whole bunch because she thought she would just give them all a try. The following weeks she ripped through our graphic collection and then came and asked for chapter books that were similar to what she had been reading. From there she became one of our most frequent borrowers and each week she was so happy to tell us about her favourites.
I think the most important thing when working with children is understanding both the collection you manage and the types of readers you have. Working with a whole school can take some time but if you are invested then you will start to form connections and then are able to suggest the best ones for them. When children see you being passionate about literature and showing an interest they will also reflect that back to you and this can build a strong reading culture. You don’t need to read every single book to know what they’re about but it is important to invest time in knowing about these things.
Librarians are there to support and help both students and teachers, by working with the classroom teacher alongside your own personal knowledge all these little things can help build the library and your own confidence with the literature.
I think over time like anything it becomes easier to process information or learn a new skill at a younger age. This does not mean that the older generation can’t still learn and adapt to the changing environment but I do see that younger and younger kids can teach me more about an iPad than I ever knew it could do…and I’m only 27. I do think that reading is a skill that you can get better at the more you do it. I can read 3 to 4 books a week given the time and that’s simply because I practice everyday. When I told the children that I worked with I could do that they would think I was crazy but the more that they read they were so proud to tell me that they also finished 2 or 3 books in one week!
Working now within a public library environment one of my responsibilities is that I run one to one technology training and basic community workshops. The clientele of these sessions are generally our older patrons who wish to learn how to send an email or how to use a device they received for christmas. These sessions normally last an hour and at times we can only get through the very basic functions of the device. Some book in for multiple sessions so they can feel more comfortable and confident using the device and some go away thinking they will never understand how to fully use them. Alternatively we have children come in with their grandparents who do everything and more on their phones if they need help or assistance with anything. So I believe that younger people do adapt and use technology differently simply because they are able to process the information faster and more confidently.
When I worked within a school the high school trialled an ebook platform for the students to access. However after a year they didn’t continue subscribing as the stats showed that only a few students were using the platform even after promoting the service. We never trialled it within the junior school because we wanted to spend our budget on the most up to date physical resources we could get. Occasionally we would be asked by parents about ebooks but we always forwarded them onto the local libraries. Now working with a public library we offer a range of online platforms, however within my branch we get most families borrowing the max amount of resources they can (35 items) and not bothering with any of the ebook platforms. I think it comes down to personal preference and parents don’t want their kids in front of more screens so they don’t invest in kindle and kobos until the children are older. During lockdown we did see a massive shift to online resources but that was because they did not have access to the library.
As the world changes and evolves I still think that people will want access to those physical items along with the ability to get things digitally if they want.