EDWARDSVILLE — Panelists at an SIUE roundtable discussion on banned books this week agreed on one way to combat efforts to curb access, particularly for young people, to certain books:
Read.
“Keep reading. Read fiction, nonfiction, biographies, transcripts, newspapers. Keep reading,” said Timothy Lewis, an assistant professor of politics at SIUE and researcher on identity politics, social justice activist, and Dr. Timothy Lewis.
Blythe Bernhard is a journalist who has been reporting for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 2007 to now, and also serves as assistant editor.
She advised that she encourages children to read and encouraged them to do so.
Leah Gregory is the Illinois Heartland Library System’s membership coordinator and school librarian liaison. She said that it was important to understand why someone might hide information.
Gregory advised, “Listen as carefully to what people don’t tell you as what they say.” Go find out what they don’t want you know if they are telling you what you should know.
Tuesday night’s discussion on banned books was hosted by Sigma Tau Delta Chapter at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in the Meridian Ballroom. Around 40 people attended.
Book bans are not new
Moderator Elizabeth Donald, St. Louis Society of Professional Journalists and SIUE Sigma Tau Delta chapter president, inquired how panelists feel the current trend to ban book is different from previous attempts to ban books.
Gregory said, “It is very different because they target marginalized people.” Gregory said, “They are not shy about it.”
She said that she sees people running for local library boards saying, “I’m a conservative Christian,” which basically means, “I don’t want any other person to read or hear about me.” “It’s much more politicized, and much more strategic in the things they want to get out libraries.”
Bernhard also agreed that the recent move to ban more books was political.
“It’s clearly a political moment — that’s what’s driving it,” Bernhard said. “There’s also ulterior motives to undermine our trust in public institutions — schools, libraries — with an ultimate goal of defunding those institutions.
“It’s really not about the books.”
Lewis stated that he disagrees with the idea that banning books was a new movement, or is now focusing on minorities or other related issues.
Lewis, who was Black and the only non-Caucasian panelist at the event, stated that “the whole notion of preventing certain group from having… literacy” is not new.
Douglass was an American abolitionist and he was cited as an example. Douglass was a slave who resisted his master’s request that he not learn to read.
Lewis stated that the current book bans were “literally the twin brothers” of anti-literacy laws, which Lewis described as the “system of slavery in America”.
Librarians are overruled
Sigma Tau Delta is an international English honor society that was founded in 1924. The American Library Association recorded 681 attempts to ban/restrict library resources within eight months in 2022 with over 1,600 titles. In the previous year, 729 attempts were made to target 1,597 books.
According to the ALA, these numbers are the highest since they started tracking book banning attempts over 40 years ago.
Tuesday’s discussion focused on the role of parents in deciding what books schools have on their shelves. It also discussed the motivations of those who wish to ban certain books.
Gregory said that the expertise of both the teacher and librarian is often overlooked. He then shared a story about a school. “A librarian ordered books, and her superintendent revoked any book that he believed could be considered inappropriate.
“And it was all to do culture, accepting other cultures and anything to do race. And a book about women getting the vote.
“They don’t care about educating students.” She said that they are not interested in making the newspaper. They don’t want anybody complaining to them about anything.
She said that there is a difference between parents restricting what their children read and parents restricting what children can read at school or in the local library.
Gregory stated, “Libraries can be for everybody. The collection must reflect that.”
Panelists: It’s all about minorities
Donald asked the panel questions about recent attempts across the United States to ban certain books. Moms for Liberty is a group that advocates for parental rights at schools, she mentioned.
Is it possible to trace “hundreds and thousands of challenges” back to just one or two people? She inquired. Is book bans an “organized effort”, or led by parents, small groups or individuals acting on their own?
Lewis objected at the question’s phrasing.
He said, “When we generalize such questions, I think it is important to identify the parents being asked.” “I don’t see any Black parents advocating banning books.
“I don’t see any Latino parents supporting (the banning) these books.” He stated that we need to be specific about the audience we are referring to. “When we use generalizations like “this is what parents want”, we overlook the cultural difference across communities that affects not only parenting styles but also parenting values. Those values are what motivate these individuals to advocate for book bans.
“Which parents should we be talking about?”
Bernhard said: “I think that the challenge comes from a very narrow segment. And you’re right — they’re white moms, white suburban moms.
She said, “Sometimes they don’t even have children in that school, but they’re trying to ban books.” “They’re not banning books in the majority Black school districts of St. Louis.
“It’s about the books. Bernhard said that it’s not about protecting children.
Gregory circled back around to the question about where the banning of books movement originated.
She said, “It’s very organized right now.” In 14 years of being a middle-school teacher, she only recalls that a handful parents called to complain about a book.
Gregory stated that she received a Freedom Of Information Act request (FOIA), recently related to Critical Race Theory.
Gregory stated that an organized group asked Gregory if there were any Critical Race Theory books available in her district. As a result, she contacted other school librarians.
“Every district of the state Illinois received that FOIA request. Someone managed to organize enough to target Critical Race books within every Illinois district.
But not the majority
The SIUE discussion was intended to discuss how to keep books in America uncensored.
Panelists agreed that people who wish to ban books were in the minority. Bernhard stated that some people were upset when Bernhard’s newspaper published the names of those who had filed to ban books from local school districts.
She noted that the information is public record.
Bernhard stated, “Most people oppose book bans.” “Book banners don’t like being called book banners.”
Gregory gave simple but very pertinent advice to the audience.
“Book banners are not on the right side in history. Don’t join them.”
