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Jumping Off
By M. Dreary
THE BANNED BOOKS BANDWAGON
As October approaches libraries and booksellers
are rolling out their banned book promotions. Bookstore
tables are being stacked high with “banned”
books and libraries will soon be giving out their “I read
banned books” buttons and bookmarks. Knitwear designers
will release “banned book” patterns or patterns
inspired by “banned” books. Yarn dyers will have
“banned book” colorways and clubs, further drawing attention
to the cause. All of this is in a lead up to
“Banned Books Week,” which runs from October 1-7,
2023.
“Banned Books Week” is a big deal for the American
Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library
association in the world. “Banned Books Week”
generally garners a lot of attention for the ALA and
their Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Banned Books
Week” is such a big deal for the ALA that they maintain
a website dedicated solely to “Banned Books Week,”
www.bannedbooksweek.org , at which they are ready
to accept your donations. “This year the ALA handed
out $1,000,000 to libraries to “fight” censorship.”
(ALA, 2023)
Many of us in the fiber arts community want to get
behind “Banned Books Week” because we don’t believe
in censorship, but I want to encourage you to dig
a little more deeply into what “Banned Books Week” is
all about, and better yet, what it is NOT about, before
you jump on the “Banned Books” bandwagon. First,
“banned” books aren’t truly banned and second, the
ALA is not an unbiased entity that wants to provide
equal access to all books.
As a book lover, becoming a librarian was a natural
career choice. I have a B.S. in Library and Information
Services from the University of Maine, and I earned my
Master’s Degree in Library Science from Texas Woman’s
University. I worked in the public library sector for
about 10 years before I decided to stay home with my
children. I am passionate about libraries and access to
information, so it seems counterintuitive to denigrate
the ALA, but they are an institution that has lost its way.
During my senior year of high school, just one
month before graduation, something would happen
that would test the mettle of librarians around the country
and fuel my desire to go into librarianship. On April
20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered into
Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, and
killed 13 people. After the Columbine shooting, activists,
politicians, and the community at large wanted
someone/thing to blame;
musician Marilyn Manson,
the video game DOOM,
and The Anarchist Cookbook
by William Powell
(1971) would all come
under fire.
The Anarchist Cookbook
was no stranger to
controversy as it had been linked
to other crimes/terrorism in the
years leading up to the Columbine
shooting. (Dokoupil, 2013) It also
frequently made the ALA’s banned
book list. The book contains
plans for how to
make bombs, Molotov
cocktails, and how to
use other types of
weaponry.
Naturally, there
were calls for libraries
across the country to remove
Powell’s book
from their collections. At this time, many librarians
spoke out against removing the book from their libraries,
as they felt it infringed on patron’s right to read.
I admired these brave librarians for not bowing to censors
in a knee jerk reaction; I wanted to be part of a
profession that valued free speech. While I am in no
way promoting The Anarchist Cookbook, I respect
adults’ right to make their own choices about what they
read; “adult,” being the operative word in that statement.
So, what does the ALA mean when they say
“banned book?” The term “banned,” while compelling,
is a misnomer. None of the books on the ALA’s list are
actually banned from print, sale, or view in general.
Rather, these are books that have been challenged,
predominantly in compulsory school libraries; 58% of
the books challenged in 2022 were part of school libraries
or classroom curricula. (ALA, 2023)
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