What Banned Books Mean to Me
When I was a kid, around the age my daughter is now, my mother once took me to a local record store (as I am from the 1900s- for those who are younger than me- back then record stores were one of the primary places where you could buy music cassette tapes, vinyl records and [cd] compact discs). I was in middle school and was beginning to venture out of classic soul and pop to hip hop and R&B. There was a music soundtrack CD I wanted, but it had a parental advisory label mostly due to the content of the LP. However, I didn't worry too much about it as my mother was in the store with me looking at Stevie Wonder records. However, when I went to the register the salesclerk refused to sell me the material. The reasoning being that the language and content she felt was inappropriate for a child of my age.
Now if you have ever meet me, know that I am only 5'0 on a good day (and I do not have many good days) and my mother was shorter than me. This often meant that going to places many assumed we were two children and not a child with a guardian, which was the assumption the clerk made on that day. My mother overheard the clerk's correction and stepped up to the counter. My mother then proceeded to tell the clerk that she decides what I can or cannot read, see or listen to. That in our household we valued artistic expressions of all kinds be they positive or depicting/sharing the negatives of life. That while she understood they cursed, my mother had already informed me of the proper time, place for such language (if I can share truth bomb here my mother would never hear me utter a curse word until 2004 after she attended my graduate school graduation - the year before she passed away). She shared with the clerk that it was her job to explain to me the content I was overhearing, to frame in context that while what they shared is reality it is not their only reality, and it was important I was exposed to things that made both her and I uncomfortable so that I would learn the larger context of my place and the place of others in the world.
Long story short...I got the Menace to Society soundtrack, Poetic Justice soundtrack, MC Lyte- "Aint No Other", Yo-Yo- "You Betta Ask Somebody and Onyx CDs. Needless to say, I was pleased as punch that someone had made my mother annoyed enough to purchase all those albums. Nevertheless, this had been a practice that my mother had to do at a few retail establishments and our local public library (prior to her becoming the president of our local branch's Friends of the Library) to ensure I could have access to the materials I wanted. Well-meaning store clerks. teachers and librarians would often stop me from getting the books, music and movies I wanted because I was a kid. They would try often to funnel me to materials I had long since outgrown or I personally panned for well pandering to kids. Example, I didn't want to read "Superfudge" in 4th grade, when I had already read "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" (fyi this book has been challenged due to its topics of religious choice, menstruation and sexuality) when I was in 3rd grade. My mother thought "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" would help me navigate my experiences with precocious puberty and my sadly early growing disillusionment with Catholicism and its role in my relationship with my Creator.
Looking back many of the books, poems, music, and movies I loved growing up and helped to shape the person I am today would probably be on someone's banned list. I wasn't often reading the things my friends consumed like Sweet Valley High or The Babysitter's Club mostly because I had in many ways outgrown them as a reader. I was reading things like Cujo (challenged for graphic horror violence and explicit content), Carrie (challenged for violence, cursing, underage sex, and negative view of religion), The Bluest Eye (challenged for race and sexuality), and The Handmaid's Tale (challenged for profanity, sexual content, alleged anti-Christian themes, and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters), among other things. My parents often felt that there was no point in shielding me from the ills of the world when they still printed the paper and the news came on every night; their job was to guide me.
Now I will not say that those librarians, store clerks, and teachers were entirely misguided in their efforts to protect me. In truth they were working from their own assumptions, experiences and feelings on what they thought was and was not appropriate for a child or middle schooler. The issue was they had no idea what my parents were teaching me, the values of my home, or why I was being exposed to certain materials. They were removing not only my agency to choose materials that matter to me but in essence my parent's agency to trust that they had taught me or could guide my understanding. As they say one man's trash is another man's treasure. For every book someone says has no value, there is someone out there that needs that book, perspective or escapism.
Each year libraries across the country acknowledge Banned Book Week Oct 5-11th. During this week the American Library Association and libraries around the country highlight materials that have been challenged or banned by other libraries, bookstores or school systems. The purpose of this is to remind our customers and other members of the public that censorship happens every day and we have to defend our rights to be able to read the materials we like.
In recent years there has been more and more challenges to books and groups that have organized to challenge materials in their libraries both local and non-local. ALA this year has focused on the theme of 1984, a book by George Orwell that focuses on the dangers of book censorship. “The 2025 theme of Banned Books Week serves as a reminder that censorship efforts persist to this day,” ALA President Cindy Hohl said. “We must always come together to stand up for the right to read.”
In 2015 California had 17 titles challenged in 17 attempts according to ALA; in 2024 there were 26 attempts for 81 titles. In 2024 there were 821 attempts nationally to censor books during the period in which ALA collects this information. Nationally, the total number of titles challenged in those attempts were 5,813 and 2,452 of those titles were unique. With the most challenged title of 2024 being "All Boys Aren't Blue". This is significantly higher than the 229 titles during the same period in 2015, with total challenged titles being 230 and 193 of them being unique.
Each year I watch as the numbers of banned and challenged materials increase in number. As a parent I understand the drive to protect our children from the harsh realities of the world. I also understand that there are some materials that my individual child is NOT ready for, that I was exposed to when I was her age. There are some games or videos online I don't let me child engage with; sometimes because I am concerned about the content and others are temporary restrictions because I don't have the time to give a full nuanced explanation of what makes the content problematic in the moment. Nevertheless, I understand that what I do in my household and what values I expose my child to are rules for just for MY household. I cannot speak to the values, needs, and concerns of other households which is why I do not care for book banning or challenges removing materials for everyone, as we don't all share the same religion, race, sexual orientation, gender expression, morals, values or beliefs. It is these differences that is our greatest strength not our greatest failure.
This year the San Jose Public library and San Jose State University will be celebrating Banned Book Week with a series of programs that highlight the importance of the freedom to read and choose books from all perspectives. Take in a perspective that may not be one that you hold and see it for the merits it gives, revisit a book you loved that has been challenged, find some new voice before it is snuffed out
A Banned Books Reading Challenge
I challenge you to read a book that has been challenged or banned.
Join us for Academically Censored a discussion on Black Trans Joy and academic censorship.
Join us for an evening of poetry with Pushcart Prize nominated poet, award-winning spoken word artist and playwright Aideed Medina
Join us for a theatrical production of the Hobbit (banned for witchcraft and satanism in New Mexico).
Attend the capstone event at Clandestine Brewery celebrating banned books.
More Events:
Join us for one of our branch programs highlighting banned books.
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