Book Censorship Winners!
Part 5 - American Library Association
The American Library Association is not your friend.
We could stop there, but let’s continue. What follows is my response to a 4/24/23 press release entitled National Library Week kicks off with the highly anticipated annual list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books and State of America's Libraries Report.
“ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted in 2021. Most of the targeted books were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.” — ALA press release
2,571 unique titles is a LOT of books people are concerned about that are being published and making their way into our school and public libraries. Maybe you can think of ten classic books that some have wanted to censor in the past. What are the other 2,561?
The ALA’s Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022
Here is the ALA list. I added bold type to the titles to make it easier to read. For each book, I posted a link to the problematic quotes and pictures according to Booklooks.org and included information on whether and where it has been found in our local public school districts.
“Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Booklooks report - “This book contains obscene sexual activities and sexual nudity; alternate gender ideologies; and profanity.”
My take: Let’s call this one a “graphic” novel. Not found yet in the local schools.
“All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Slicksheet (one page summary)
Booklooks report - “This book contains sexual nudity; sexual activities including sexual assault; alternate gender ideologies; profanity and derogatory terms; alcohol and drug use; and controversial racial commentary.”
Available in book form in the MHS library
“The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison
Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
Booklooks report - “This book contains profanity and derogatory terms; sexual activities including sexual assault and molestation; alcohol use; inflammatory racial and religious commentary and references.”
Is EDI a typo? Please comment and let me know what that means. Available at Elk Mound HS, Glenwood City HS, MHS and Spring Valley MS/HS
“Flamer,” by Mike Curato
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Booklooks report - “This book contains alternate sexualities; sexual activities; sexual nudity; profanity and derogatory term; violence including self- harm; and controversial religious commentary.”
This has NOT been found in our local school districts yet.
(TIE) “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content
Booklooks report - “This book contains sexual nudity and sexual activities; moderate profanity use; alcohol use; and gender ideologies.”
I think this is the most common book in our local schools. It is in all the high schools otherwise mentioned, in addition to Durand HS and Menomonie Middle School.
(TIE) “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual abuse, drugs, profanity
Booklooks report - “This book contains sexual activities including assault and battery; sexual nudity; profanity; violence; alcohol and drug use.”
Available at Colfax MS/HS, Glenwood City HS and MHS
“Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Booklooks report - “This book contains sexual activities including molestation; sexual nudity; racially charged commentary; profanity and derogatory terms; alcohol and drug use.”
MHS only.
Video: I don’t usually pay attention to PBS but this was a particularly fair handling of the situation in my opinion.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
Booklooks report - “This book contains inexplicit sexual nudity; inflammatory racial commentary; references to racism; and profanity.”
Available at MMS and in every high school checked except Durand
“Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
Booklooks report - “This book contains controversial racial commentary; derogatory terms and mild profanity; violence; explicit sexual nudity and explicit sexual activities including sexual assault and battery of a minor.”
MHS only.
(TIE) “A Court of Mist and Fury,” by Sarah J. Maas
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit
Slicksheet (one page summary)
Booklooks report - “This book contains sexual nudity; sexual activities; violence; and profanity.”
Available at Glenwood City HS, MHS and Spring Valley MS/HS
(TIE) “Crank,” by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs
Booklooks report - “This book contains explicit sexual activities; sexual battery; profanity; and drug abuse.”
Available at Colfax MS/HS, Elk Mound HS and MHS
(TIE) “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
Booklooks says: 3 - “This book contains inexplicit sexual nudity; sexual activities; and excessive/frequent profanity and derogatory terms.”
Not found yet in book form, but available through SORA digital library at MHS
(TIE) “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
Slicksheet (one page summary)
Booklooks report - “This book contains excerpts and illustrations depicting explicit nudity and sexual activities.”
This book has been slowly and quietly disappearing from the Menomonie district. It is at least available at the high school through SORA at this time.
Photo by Johnny McClung on Unsplash
You have to wonder why the American Library Association is so determined to get these books into the hands of minors.
If there was an adult who was similarly determined to give these to your children would you let them in your house?!? The American Library Association is not your friend.
NOTE: As mentioned in my last post, Colfax and Spring Valley have a shared library between the middle and high school. If age-appropriate protections are not in place, this could increase access to explicit materials by middle schoolers.
Also note that Boyceville’s library catalog is password protected and so is not represented here.
Additionally, ALL of these books are available through the MORE system at your local public library. I checked.
The Public Library System
I asked Menomonie Public Library Director Joleen Sterk if there are any protections to keep children from accessing age-inappropriate material through our public library system. Could an eight year old check out This Book is Gay?
Her response:
“MPL policy states that “Applicants under 18 years of age are required to obtain their parent’s or guardian’s signature on [a library] card application and have parent or guardian present when registering.”
“When a parent applies for a MORE library card with their minor child, they sign a statement that says: I accept responsibility for fines and charges on that child’s card and acknowledge that it is my responsibility, not the library’s, to monitor and approve my child’s choice of library materials and/or other information resources.”
“Parents are the ultimate guides as to what is acceptable for their own family. There are no consortium-wide restrictions placed on age of cardholders, or content checked out on individual accounts. You can find additional information about how our local collection has been developed here: https://menomonielibrary.org/about/library-policies/” — Joleen Sterk
So can an eight year old check out This Book is Gay?
You aren’t allowed to be in the library unsupervised until you are nine.
In Conclusion
“About the American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit www.ala.org.” — from the ALA’s press release
ALA, you sure “transformed” my community.
Time to step up and PARENT, Y’all. No one else is going to protect your children’s innocence.
The series so far:
Part 1 - Book rating system; How to find out what sexually explicit books are in your school library
Part 2 - MHS, MMS and MPL problematic books list; Report presented to the SDMA school board; Book banning
Part 3 - How books find your child; Sexy, violent books as medicine
Part 4 - Book lists for neighboring districts, a comparison; Dunn County Education Alternatives and how to leave the public school system
(I accidentally posted this comment below Part 1 so I'm putting it here in Part 5 also.)
Joyce asked: "Is EDI a typo? Please comment and let me know what that means."
It means "Equity, Diversity, Inclusion" (a.k.a. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) which you may be familiar with already). It is important to note that equity is not the same as equality. EDI goes way beyond simply including people from diverse backgrounds, and the extreme aspects of it (such as discrimination and normalization) are why it would be flagged content in children's books. Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis and Governor of Texas Gregory Abbott are prominent political critics of DEI/EDI.
And since they are being discussed here, the following URL shows that the American Library Association likes EDI very much:
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/EDI
This is tremendous work that Joyce and others are doing in exposing what is in our libraries. I don't think there is anything wrong with our community helping parents parent. I believe that the standards for library books for our Menomonie Library can have a much higher bar than what the American Library Association has. Let's keep helping our parents to parent well. There is no law against wholesome library books. Let's set a new standard for wholesome reading in our community. Josie Pillman