There was a full house for the Banned Book Swap event at Mac’s Back on Coventry Road on March 15 — it was a real page-turner! We talked about how, why and where books are banned — and how we ALL can help defeat these censorious bans, and how to stop bans before all threatened books are forcibly removed from their shelves.
Suzanne DeGaetano, Mac’s Backs co-owner, introduced the event, explaining that most books are banned in elementary and high school libraries, although some public libraries have to deal with book censors as well.
She provided vital information about the frightening number of banned books in our local schools. This is how banning happens, most of the time: the book banners (small in number but very vocal) regularly show up at school board meetings, with book in hand, reading a selected quote from the book, purporting to demonstrate what the complete book is about. And since school board members are very busy, and there are all too frequently no Right To Read folks at the meetings, the book banners get their way, and the book gets removed from the school shelves. That’s how books get banned.
Suzanne shared with all of us how YOU can prevent book bans in your own community. Whether you’re a parent, book activist, or just a concerned taxpayer, you can attend the next meeting of your local school board (check out ClevelandMetroSchool.org/Board-of-Education, or whatever community affects you and your family). Find their calendar and attend their next meeting — and check out whether you can run for school board too. You can represent your children or the children in your community by finding out which books are in danger of being banned. Read those books — and check in with the Right To Read Ohio folks here. They will be happy to provide you with guidance on presenting at the school board, and possible tactics the book banners may use. You will be an advocate for your favored book, and will need to gather many pro-literature arguments (like any good defense attorney) for this particular book. Also consider how many people you can bring with you — that will strengthen your pro-book stance.
Some of the many organizations supporting books and the right to read: PEN America, American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers for Free Expression, Media Coalition, Free Expression Network, Kids Right to Read Project, American Library Association, and Right To Read Ohio.
Three tables dominated the event, literally illustrating how YOU can take effective action against book banning NOW, including the Banned Books Table (with for-sale copies of 1984, James Baldwin’s books, Maus, The Hunger Games, This Book Is Gay, Animal Farm, All Boys Aren’t Blue, Fahrenheit 451, and many more) and the Banned Books Swap Table.
I led reviews and discussions of the following banned books: Maus by Art Spigelman, Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and Howl by Allen Ginsburg.
Yes, there is a lot YOU can do, including donating to appropriate organizations. But disseminating information is the quickest and simplest action that you can take. Start a conversation with someone at your local indie bookstore, or in line at the grocery store, with a friend who has school-age children, someone who advocates free speech, with relatives who are avid readers, your local neighborhood author — anyone who cares about books/literature and the inestimable value they bring to all our lives.
Share the information we’re giving you here, for when people ask, “So, what can I do to help?” you can tell them exactly what to do. The more people who know about these absurd bans and how they can take action, the sooner those bans will be in the dustbin of history.
And write with your children — share your love of reading and writing with them. Encourage them, read and talk with them about The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank: teach them how to express their feelings of fear and doubt, discussing how Anne’s writing saved her spirit during the long months in the Secret Annex, and how your family might have thought, behaved, dreamt. in her situation. Or choose another book that speaks to you.
Please take action today – because EVEN ONE BANNED BOOK IS TOO MANY.