It’s Banned Book Week: What Libraries Are Getting Wrong

I’m a big fan of the Queens Public Library. I go there all the time and can find most of the books I want, even some in Hebrew! I don’t believe in book bans in general and think they are counterproductive. So then why then did I find myself cringing when I saw on their professionally designed website, “It’s Banned Books Week!” “Books United Us!” and “ I Read Banned Books with my QPL Card”? The Queens Library system is so enthusiastic about this project that they are even coming out with a Banned Books Special Edition Library Card.

So why aren’t I onboard?

Reason One: Just because a book is banned doesn’t make it worth reading.

When I was a teen my Mom told me I couldn’t read Valley of the Dolls. So naturally I immediately borrowed a copy and read it anyway. Just because it was banned didn’t make it a great book, but it did sure did make me want to read it. (It’s no longer on the banned books list). So teens will go out of their way to read books that their parents or society doesn’t approve of. In fact, maybe we should be banning War and Peace, Moby Dick and anything by Shakespeare. That will probably encourage kids to at least look at them.

Reason Two: The danger posed by Banned Books has been grossly exaggerated.

Based on this outcry, one would think that New Yorkers are in mortal danger of not being able to read the books of their choice. But the truth is New York didn’t even make the list of 17 states where there have been challenges or outright bans on books.

The American Library Association, which is spearheading Banned Books Week, says that there were 1,247 demands to censor library books and resources in 2023. They claim that 4,240 unique book titles were targeted for removal from schools and libraries. Among them nearly half have to do with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC. Attempts to censor more than 100 titles occurred in 17 states, mostly in the midwest and south. So If you live in New York you don’t have to worry, but the libraries here sure do. The New York Public Library also is promoting Banned Books Week.

As part of this campaign the Queens Library is specifically promoting books for young people which they claim have been banned, among them: Gender Queer, Lawn Boy, This Book is Gay and even Anne Frank’s Diary. (More on that one later). I’m not sure the fact that they were banned makes them more worth reading. Also, I didn’t see the St. James Bible on their list. I’m sure many would agree it’s well worth reading.

The Bible was removed from elementary and middle school library shelves in a town in Utah in 2023, but then after a public outcry was reinstated. (Utah school board unanimously reversed its decision to remove the Bible off school shelves after appeals, CNN, June 21, 2023).

However, there seems to be little outcry on the fate of the Bible in other countries. If you want to really know what is a threat to civil rights worldwide you could check out the 52 countries that have targeted this one book for banning or restricting. And they really enforce that ban.

The Bible has been the subject of more book bans than any other book in history. Fifty-two nations, most of which are Muslim or majority Muslim have banned or severely restricted access to this book. Important NOTE: I couldn’t find one country in the world which has banned the Koran, but my Google search turned up two countries in Europe which have made burning the Koran illegal.

Maybe instead of promoting Lawn Boy, libraries should be encouraging their patrons to read about how Christians are prevented from reading their holiest of books?

Now, Jews might immediately get upset that Anne Frank was included on that list. But if they knew the truth they might agree that the new graphic version is inappropriate to teach. My own synagogue included in our digital bulletin a story about how Anne Frank’s Diary was banned. I was incredulous and decided to investigate. Turns out the book in question was not the original version of her diary that most of us read in middle or high school. No, the version that was “challenged” was the graphic adaptation. That version included portions about Frank’s budding interest in sex and the female body. The new graphic novel version by Ari Folman with illustrations by David Polonsky chooses to include graphic references and illustrations about sex and omits other parts. It’s not her famous diary in full. So the parents in Florida had it removed, not because they didn’t want their children learning about the Holocaust as one might initially conclude, but quite the opposite, they thought it didn’t honor Anne Frank. And knowing how seventh graders behave, my take is that they would focus on the sex parts and probably not pay much attention to the main idea of a child being deprived of her childhood due to extreme anti-Semitism. (AP, Illustrated Anne Frank book removed by Florida school, Mike Schneider, April 10, 2023.)

Reason Three: These books are not really banned.

A demand to censor is not censorship, but “challenges” are included in their count. The library association defines a “challenge” as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” The ALA doesn’t keep a precise figure of how many books have actually been withdrawn.

Also hard to track is how many of these books were banned in school libraries, just removed from recommended reading lists or not taught in the public school curriculum. So if we want to be very fair and accurate, the truth is these books are still widely available from Amazon, booksellers (those that have survived), most public libraries (especially in New York City!) and digital libraries. So even a book that is banned in reality is not really that hard to get. Unlike say in Yemen or Afghanistan.

Reason Four: The Focus is Misplaced

My biggest problem is not with promoting the threat of book banning to our children, but that these same organizations that would have us believe that we are facing a massive affront to free speech and implying that the danger comes mainly from ultra-rightwing conservatives, say nothing about a much bigger problem: books not being published at all.

Self censorship is the tool the Left uses to prevent books from being published, but the libraries are silent about this form of book banning.

Six Dr. Seuss books are no longer being published because of alleged “racist imagery” due to pressure from progressive educators and academics. Over 200 employees at Simon Schuster signed a petition to cancel former Vice President Mike Pense’s book deal, but to their credit Simon and Schuster published it anyway.

“Now, many books the left might object to never make it to bookshelves because a softer form of banishment happens earlier in the publishing process: scuttling a project for ideological reasons before a deal is signed, or defusing or eliminating “sensitive” material in the course of editing,” writes Pamela Paul in There’s More than One way to ban a book. (NY Times, July 24, 2022.)

The American Booksellers Association experienced a major backlash after promoting a a book by Abigail Shrier about the dangers posed to young girls by the transgender industry. They issued an apology and promised to change their practices. Publishing houses are reluctant to publish anything that those on the Left may consider offensive and have instituted “Sensitivity Reads” according to Paul who defined this process as having a panel of “experts” deeply read a book before publication and forcing the author to make revisions to avoid anything with a whiff of potential offense.

In addition Zionism has now been added to the taboo list by some publishers. More than a dozen Israeli and Zionist writers, editors, publishers and agents told The Times of Israel that they are being de-platformed, disinvited from literary events and harassed. And while that may not violate the First Amendment, it both tests the principles of freedom of expression and reveals a growing intolerance for diverse and different viewpoints. (Times of Israel, Jewish writers say the post-Oct. 7 English literary world has blacklisted them. Cathryn J. Prince).

Therefore I can’t help but be bothered and suspicious when I see my local library magnifying the dangers of book “banning” while ignoring the far more serious threats to free expression. Seems hypocritical to me. So I won’t be entering that contest to produce a Banned Books Special Edition Library Card, even if they are offering a $2,000 prize.