Mary L. Stephens Library, The Avid Reader and more take a stand against literary censorship
By OLIVIA HOKR — city@theaggie.org
Banned Books Week is an annual campaign that brings visibility to books that have been banned or challenged over the past hundreds of years within schools and libraries. This year from Sept. 22 to 28, librarians, writers, journalists and teachers focused on highlighting the diverse voices of authors who have been victims of these bans. The American Library Association implemented the theme “Freed Between the Lines” for this year’s unition against censorship as a political statement for the freedom of storytelling and reading.
Yolo County Library took a public stance through their social media accounts and participated in Banned Books Week to encourage the community to unite against book bans. At an even more local level, the Mary L. Stephens Library in downtown Davis joined other Yolo County Libraries in shining a light on books that are being challenged and banned throughout the nation.
Scott Love, the library regional manager in the West Yolo Region, shared that Mary L. Stephens Library produced a display of challenged books. Similarly, Logos Books in downtown Davis created a display for Banned Books Week that included a printed list of the 2023 most-challenged books.
“It is important to acknowledge the attacks on everyone’s right to have unrestricted access to free books to read,” Love said. “Yolo County Library feels strongly that each individual and each parent should decide what they and their children should read, not the library.”
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom shared data that showed a 65% increase to challenged books in 2023 compared to the amount in 2022. Public libraries and school libraries were main targets of censorship this past year. The most common reason for a book to be challenged is its representation of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC identities within the story, according to the data.
Kayla Girdner, the administrative assistant and social media manager at The Avid Reader in downtown Davis, believes in advocating for the freedom of books year-round and fighting against the marginalization of authors.
“They can’t ban the books from the bookstore, but they can absolutely ban them from being accessible to people who don’t necessarily have money to go out and buy the books from a store,” Girdner said. “[Banned Books Week is] a big push in schools and bookstores to celebrate those books and make them visible in places where maybe they wouldn’t be.”
In 2023, Texas and Florida challenged, respectively, 1,470 titles and 2,672 titles per the data made available by the American Library Association. These were the highest numbers of challenged titles among the 50 states.
Meanwhile in California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California Freedom to Read Act into law on Sept. 29, 2024. This law prohibits public libraries, which includes school libraries, California State Libraries and library districts, from limiting the distribution or sale of books on the basis of the topics and materials within it. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
“The bill would prohibit the governing board or body of a public library, or any body or commission designated to review the procurement, retention, or circulation of, or access to, library materials, from (1) proscribing the circulation or procurement of, or access to, library materials in a public library because of the topic addressed by the library materials or because of the views, ideas, or opinions contained in materials or (2) creating policies or procedures that limit or restrict access to library materials offered by the public library, except as provided,” the bill reads.
The increasing attempts of censorship on literature within the U.S. is a crucial problem that communities must continue to fight. Book bans can impact education, diminish the diversity of author’s voices, discourage literature engagement and reduce access to incredible stories. Yolo County Library and local Davis businesses are proud to distribute and sell titles that have been challenged and unite against book bans.
“In my 38 plus-year career across four library systems, I have seen many materials challenged by groups or individuals,” Love said. “But not one of those challenges was successful.”
Written by: Olivia Hokr — city@theaggie.org
