Opinion: Instead of Banned Book Week, let’s celebrate the Freedom to Read Week
In junior high school I wanted to borrow the book, “Gone with the Wind,” from Schlow Centre Region Library. My mother said I should wait a few years. And I respected her wishes. It was her prerogative as my parent to guide me as I matured. Notice she did not tell the library they had to remove the book or put it on a special shelf. She wasn’t in charge of other readers, just her kids.
Parental nurturing is at the core of family and society, but so is the variety in the people of this world. As we celebrate another Banned Books Week (Oct. 1-7) I am reminded of the relationship between the child, parents, educators, librarians and books. Librarians and educators provide choice and make recommendations but without a doubt parents guide their child’s reading choices. However no one parent or group of parents are responsible for what is available to other families.
I’m a product of public schools and public libraries. My great-grandmother depended on books from the public library bookmobile and my mother founded Mid-State Literacy Council to teach adults to read. So public education, reading and books just might be part of my DNA. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word “public” as a place accessible or visible to the populace. Public libraries and public schools are meant to be accessible to all, so it follows that the services and resources are for the populace. Not everything in a library or a school library or a classroom book collection will be acceptable to all families, but it will be accessible.
Add to the mix, the process of learning to make a choice. Choices can be made and the beauty of reading is there are so many choices. Thus if a choice does not match a family’s point of view and parents prefer their child not read a specific book, the book can be returned and another choice made. What a great learning experience for the child, to see that selection doesn’t always equal approval and in some situations changes can be made. What is OK in one family might not be OK in another. What a great opportunity for family discussion of values and how they influence choices. That’s what freedom is about; freedom to make choices but not to impose personal choices on other people.
As a school librarian, now retired, I enjoyed Banned Books Week, although I often wished it could be celebrated as the Freedom to Read Week. Each year we created a display of banned and challenged books and encircled the display with caution tape. For that week none of those books were available to be borrowed. Students were always surprised at the books that were on the banned book display and tried to decide what had been so offensive for these books to be challenged. I can’t think of another display that prompted as much discussion.
My hat is off to all the people serving as public school educators, public school board members, librarians and staff at public libraries and public library boards. I appreciate the time, money and sacrifices made by the people who fill these roles. These are especially challenging positions today when some folks want to limit access and choice for others. All readers deserve to see themselves in what they read. The good news is that with the diversity of writers today, readers potentially have access to a variety of literature. Thank you to all those protecting and promoting the Freedom to Read, not just during Banned Book Week but every week.
Dotty Delafield is a retired school librarian from Mount Nittany Middle School. She and her husband, Gary, were born, raised and educated in Happy Valley. They have four children born, raised and educated in Happy Valley and four grandsons who have been read to from a wide variety of books.
