Banned Book Week

What do “Mein Kampf,” the “Bible,” “Charlotte’s Web” and the dictionary have in common?

They are all books that have been challenged with the intent of having them banned.

Every year, the American Library Association compiles data on censorship attempts in libraries around the country, much of which is highlighted during Banned Book Week, which is Sept. 22-28 this year.

The week was established in 1982 to support the freedom to read. Public libraries across the nation often participate in the week, highlighting the importance of people making unfettered reading choices and creating displays that feature “banned” books in their own collections.

The point of libraries is anti-censorship, said Bosque Farms Public Library director Sabrina Edwards.

“We promote the freedom to read, and the freedom to read whatever you want to read,” Edwards said.

By purchasing a wide variety of books with varying viewpoints, in an array of genres in both fiction and nonfiction, Edwards hopes to provide patrons with access to everything they want.

“We do have a purchase request form and we take that into consideration. We are here to serve the community,” she said.

To celebrate Banned Book Week, Edwards used challenged books in the library’s adult, young adult and children’s sections to create displays.

“As librarians, it’s our job to provide books. It’s not our job to take them away and say they are inappropriate,” the director said. “It’s important to support the freedom to seek out publications and read different opinions, even though they might be considered unorthodox or unpopular. That is the value of free and open access to information.”

That access to information — free from judgment and barriers — can be life changing for some people, said Kat Gullahorn, the public services librarian and a senior lecturer III and principal lecturer III, at the University of New Mexico-Valencia campus.

She pointed out that restricting access to information goes against the very ethics of a librarian’s profession.

“We don’t care what people want to look at. We’re going to help them find whatever they want to look at. It’s about freedom ... Our job is not to make any personal judgments about what they’re looking at or whether they should read it or not,” Gullahorn said.

“When I was at CNM, we had someone coming and they wanted to do research, but they didn’t know the word ‘transgender.’ They knew they wanted to see the concept ... and we helped them along without any judgment.

“That person found me 10 years later and said, ‘thank you.’ Being able to help them opened doors I didn’t know were closed to them.”

As an academic library, the UNM-Valencia collection has a different mission than public libraries.

“Our aim is to support the curriculum. We could have a class that’s actually looking at pornography and has a legitimate need to access that information,” said Barbara Lovato, library director.

An elementary education major at UNM-Valencia, Miranda Valdez is currently enrolled in a children’s literature course, learning about the history of children’s literature. Initially, children weren’t introduced to literature for the sake of the art form but rather to indoctrinate them, Valdez said.

“I was noticing some of the different reasons ... people were banning books in schools because they felt their beliefs were being challenged,” Valdez said, referencing the Banned Book Week display she helped create in the library. “I wondered, ‘Is this a way they are still trying to implement that indoctrination?’ It’s a little heartbreaking because we’ve worked so hard, as a nation, to have acknowledge of different authors — African American and Latino — to have certain books present knowledge, just to have it taken away.”

Giving challenged books visibility is a way to bring about conversations and helping people be aware that others may see themselves in a book.

“If something is a very challenging subject, it is a safe space to explore that subject,” said Manuel Mora, a library technician at the Los Lunas Public Library. “Just because we have something like ‘Lolita’ doesn’t mean we agree with the subject matter or how the character is treated. It’s more about bringing those discussions to light and having a safe space to actually engage with those topics.

“We’re not trying to have an opinion about it as a library entity. We’re just providing the materials so people can form their own decisions and opinions on the material.”

If a patron finds material in the library they feel is inappropriate, Los Lunas, like the other public libraries in the county, has a process for protesting a book. The patron has to fill out a form, indicating why they feel the book should be moved to a different section or possibly removed from the library completely. All the librarians indicated they require the patron be able to demonstrate they read the entire book and aren’t just cherry picking passages. The university library requires protest to argue the harm in both leaving the book in the collection and removing it.

Belen Public Library Director Kathleen Pickering said in the time she’s been director the library hasn’t received a formal challenge on a book. There have been discussions with library staff about whether certain books were in an appropriate section, but Pickering and circulation manager, Madison Collister, both said they and the staff work diligently to direct patrons to other selections, more to their liking.

PHOTOS: "Banned" books in local libraries

“Normally, I’m up front and I end up directing people to a different section. Mostly, we have a conversation with them, listen and try to make things as comfortable for them to the extent we can,” Collister said.

While this week is all about “banned” books, in the U.S. there aren’t any books that are actually illegal.

“I think the closest we got to that probably was during McCarthyism because of the fear of communism and possessing communist material,” Pickering said. “And, ironically, I feel like that was the time when the U.S. got closest to behaving like a communist government.

“These are literary arts, and when we think about art, we wouldn’t want the government to tell us, ‘Oh, you can only like this art and you can’t look at this.’ Our job isn’t to force anyone to read anything or to prevent anyone from reading anything, but to allow everyone to select that artistic expression, that resonates with me.

“I would be sad if we started telling people what they can and can’t read. We have a pretty good mix of a collection, so it’s easy to guide people to a different selection that is exactly what they’re looking for.”

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 attempts to censor library materials and services. In those cases, 1,128 unique titles were challenged. In the same reporting period last year, ALA tracked 695 attempts with 1,915 unique titles challenged.

“One of my favorite banned books quote is, ‘The library has something in it to offend everyone. That’s how you know it’s good,’” said Collister.

Pickering agreed, pointing out if a library has only one very narrow type of offering, “it’s not really a library. It’s somebody’s private collection and that really defeats the purpose. It’s important to read other people’s opinions ... we all want to have our own feelings and experiences respected. If we invalidate someone else’s experience, then why should ours be valid? You’re opening a door and you could be next.”