Ellen Oh, author and CEO of We Need Diverse Books, moderated a panel of authors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago on June 24 with the aim of arming librarians and educators with resources for combating book-banning efforts. Each author spoke about personal experiences with their books being banned, and offered solutions for speaking with library patrons, local politicians, and their communities about how to lead efforts of "community engagement."
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Panelists (l.-r.) Eliot Schrefer, Samira Ahmed, Jerry Craft, Kyle Lukoff, Ashley Hope Peréz, and moderator Ellen Oh. |
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"We as adults need to find our courage for our kids," said Samira Ahmed, author of Love, Hate and Other Filters, as well as the frequently banned book Internment. Ahmed, who was a community organizer for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, had practical grassroots ideas for how to get the word out in the effort to fight book-banning. "Know the names of every school board member, every library board member," she said. People who ban books "are not just taking a book from a child, they're erasing an experience," she continued. She urged audience members to make 25 calls to a school board member; send 50 faxes. Start a postcard campaign, she said, and ask the children to send them: "My school needs Queer Ducks because..."; "Let me read New Kid because..." E-mails can be deleted, Ahmed said, but as voicemail fills and letter piles grow, faxes, calls, and postcards are all concrete evidence that cannot be ignored.
Jerry Craft, author of the Newbery Medal-winning New Kid, spoke about efforts in Katy, Tex., to remove his books and a petition to stop his school appearance there, largely engineered by one parent. Craft lauded the efforts of Raven White at Brown Sugar Café and Books in Katy, who stepped up to host an in-person event and led crowdfunding efforts to buy a book for every child who attended Craft's appearance.
Author of the recently published Queer Ducks (and Other Animals), Eliot Schrefer says he's newer to book banning, but "you can't publish a book with 'Queer' in the title" without undergoing some scrutiny. Like Craft, Schrefer's books have been critically acclaimed; his Endangered and Threatened were both National Book Award finalists. "You can't win by arguing by their rules," Schrefer said. "We must start by leading from our values, not letting them run the argument." Schrefer pointed out, "Those in anger use loud voices; those in despair are often silent. If we let the loudest voices represent our communities, we get a false sense of who is in the majority."
A former high school teacher in Houston, Tex., Ashley Hope Peréz said, "I am a YA author because my students told me about the books they wanted to read." Peréz received a Printz Honor for Out of Darkness, her story of a romance, set in a 1937 Texas oil town, between a female Mexican American teenager and a male Black teenager. "The greatest danger is self-censorship; books that don't need to be banned because they weren't on the shelves to begin with," she said. Peréz said it's important to remind folks that "Representation does not mean endorsement." Just because you don't want your child to read a book doesn't mean no child should be able to read a book. "We know who the allies are in the community," she said. "We can come together."
As a former librarian and bookseller, Kyle Lukoff, author of Newbery Honor, National Book Award Finalist, and Stonewall Award winner Too Bright to See, among other titles, had the most intimate counsel for the audience: "I used to have a crush on the First Amendment," he said. He spoke of his struggle to maintain his integrity and his beliefs while also trying to uphold the guidelines of his library. His first challenge was a Robie Harris title; then he examined the books in his collection that depicted the police, all of whom were portrayed as "goodhearted." He said that many libraries' collection policies and reconsideration forms--which are the instruments of defending against book-banning--wind up "blaming the victim," the librarians themselves. Lukoff recommended reading Walkaway by Cory Doctorow: "The moment may have come when you may have to undermine an institution in order to save a library."
Ellen Oh said one can't assume that because they're in a blue state, that everyone will support books in the libraries. People in blue counties can help those in red counties who are experiencing book-banning efforts. Oh asked people to gather in small groups to share ideas, then invited people to approach the microphone. A Nashville, Tenn., librarian said they issued city-wide library cards that say, "I Read Banned Books." Another librarian said they keep an artillery of strong reviews, before a book is challenged. A library trustee in Oak Park, Ill., a blue city just outside Chicago, spoke about a neighboring blue town in her county where conservative-leaning school board candidates got elected and upended the library policies, implementing book removal policies and catching everyone by surprise. She urged people to get to know their Friends of the Library, recruit allies who support your library policies, "Be proactive now, before the elections."
Oh armed the audience with "Addressing Book Challenges"--proactive measures they can take now, ahead of a confrontation--guidelines that can help educators, librarians, and booksellers alike. Under headings such as "Be Aware!" ("Know your selection and reconsideration policies," etc.); "Build Your Case!" ("Consult Reviews for the challenged books," etc.); "Find Your Allies!" ("Keep track of who else is fighting book bans," etc.); "Push Back (Consistently)!" ("Challenge Misinformation"); and "Listen to Experience," which includes links to helpful articles about preparing oneself for book challenges. At a time when all booklovers must unite, these resources brim with ideas for how communities can band together as booksellers, librarians, educators, caregivers, and allies. --Jennifer M. Brown