If you are even mildly adjacent to libraries, you know how we are currently being besieged by a small number of anti-book, anti-reading, anti-people fanatics. There are not that many of these pathetic little people, but they are noisy and delight in trying to sow fear and upset everywhere they go.
Libraries are all about freedom to read, sharing books, and letting people make their own choices about the books they want to read. Most people are in agreement with this idea as well – and the people who want to be able to freely choose books for themselves are fighting back against the pathetic book banners. Great to see!
Check out this excerpt of an article about a few strategies that people who want to support free reading have been taking! You can read the whole article here.
“The free speech group PEN America says book bans in public school libraries this year are on pace to top last year’s high mark, when there were more than 2,500 instances of book bans in U.S. schools. Most of those books were LGBTQ- or race-related.
It’s exactly why many people opposed to bans are taking it upon themselves to find creative ways to put those books where young readers will see them — outside of schools. Pop-up banned-book libraries, banned-book giveaways and even a banned bookmobile have appeared around the nation in an ad hoc kind of counteroffensive.
There’s also been a spike in Little Free Libraries stuffed with banned books. The number of those curbside boxes on posts rose during the pandemic and climbed even higher last year as book bans spread around the nation. There were 140,000 Little Free Libraries in 2022, up 35% from 2020, according to the nonprofit Little Free Library, which has been encouraging the growth. The organization says some 87% of its members report that they share banned books.
It’s becoming something of a cat-and-mouse game. As activists come up with creative ways around book bans, the other side is starting to look at how to quash those end runs, which only leaves activists even more determined.
“The harder they push [book bans], the more of these books are going to be available. I have a bit of a history with direct action and guerrilla theater,” Tritt quips.
He has already lent or given away nearly 2,000 books, everywhere from a flower shop and festivals to political rallies and road races. It’s been a lifeline for young people, he says.
“One family came in with a [transgender] teen and picked up This Book Is Gay and just cried,” Tritt recalls. “Their father held them, and they both thanked us so much. They didn’t know the book existed.”…”
“”What we are beginning to see after a year and half of really kind of being back on our heels is that the opposition is growing,” says Chris Finan, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. “The [book ban advocates are] overreaching, and it’s making people mad and they’re getting active.”
Including young people, like 18-year-old high school senior Oliver Stirland, from St. George, Utah.
“What really got to me was two books that I had read that completely transformed my life were suddenly on the banned book list, and it kind of felt like a stab to the gut,” Stirland says.
He says a school librarian recommended the books to him when he was coming to terms with his sexuality and fighting thoughts of suicide. It prompted him to start raising money to buy banned books that he and others are slipping into Little Free Libraries all over town.
“If I can give one kid a book that helps that kid come out of a dark place, that lets them know that they’re not alone — if I could help one kid, that would make everything worth it,” Stirland says.”
