Technolandy

Day 95 (of 2024/25) closing #literacyweek with a thought on banned books – subtle and overt

Except for ebooks, no library can hold copies of every book ever written… and even as to “what’s best” – the shelves will vary. I went through a phase of reading every Guinness collection. Every Choose Your Own Adventure. Every Encyclopedia Brown. After a lesson by a librarian about not judging a book by its cover, I even went on a streak seeking ugly covered books. 

Librarians have a lot of power… much like bookstores, we determine what gets shelved and how it is shelved… something in the top shelf at the back will not get looked at as much as a book being displayed like the newest releases… the smile or shake of a head can determine if a book is read or put back… and there are books I am reserved about (due to language and some ‘historical context’ needed for understanding) that I will share with some, but not all without hesitation… and there are some books I will neither purchase, nor shelve, nor recommend… though I may have a copy stored somewhere for specific reasons… but most of ‘those’ books, I won’t even let inhabit my elibrary let alone my physical bookshelves. 

I’ll admit that not all book bans are inappropriate but many of them are. Especially when they are focused on the author/character gender, sexuality, or skin colour. Hate speech and most -isms…. Those can stay in the back back back room…. Fire starter…? 

But it is just a reminder of the many ways that that banning reading can occur. It’s easy to take on the overt hateful attempts to ban particular titles, but there are many other ways reading role models can influence readers for good or bad. Part of literacy week needs to be bigger awareness of the power of what we don’t say and do…

So once again, if reading is important – let’s get more public readers sharing that it is a daily value!