Book Censorship News, November 10, 2023

This week, Clay County Schools in Florida turned the third college district to ban my e book Body Talk. This got here in direct retaliation for my reporting on the county’s lead e book banner and one of the vital prolific e book banners in your complete nation, Bruce Friedman, final November. Of course, Bruce’s title has gotten extra consideration since — little credited to me for breaking the story — however most of these journalists haven’t seen their books banned in response to doing their job.

Below is a screenshot from Bruce’s huge checklist of books he considers inappropriate. The rationale behind mine? “Hit piece.” The of us in Clay County went forward with it.

My e book just isn’t the primary nor the final to be banned in Clay County. Hell, like I stated, this isn’t the primary time my e book has been banned. But in straight retaliation for my work on censorship? That’s a brand new one.

Perhaps the worst a part of it’s this: Steve Martin’s Shopgirl was additionally banned within the newest spherical at Clay County. The media has breathlessly fawned over his response that banning the e book makes him proud as a result of it means the e book will promote extra copies. Not solely is that bullshit, it’s ignorant and as soon as once more pushes the anticensorship motion again, identical to Stephen King did in his notorious tweet telling youngsters to get to the general public library if a e book is banned at their college (the general public libraries are targets, too).

So what are these of us who aren’t a white man with energy and privilege presupposed to do when our books are banned? The mainstream media isn’t protecting it, and mainstream media can also be not bothering to spotlight that the removing of Martin’s e book comes after LITERAL YEARS of this taking place throughout the nation. How cute grown adults might simply crank up the gross sales on a e book by a celeb. Screw the youngsters or the parents who’ve been making an attempt to finish censorship for years, eh? One Google search with a hyperlink to tips on how to reply might have made an impression.

Reporting on e book bans has put my very own work on the road, and each time I sit down to put in writing about it, I really feel egocentric for asking for a lifeline.

But right here it’s: my e book retains being banned. First, due to claims it’s “pornographic.” Now, due to my work right here, which has regularly been borrowed weeks or months after I’ve written it by shops with out attribution, it’s additionally banned in retaliation.

How can anybody anticipate we’ll get out of this if the folks placing their necks on the market are getting them chopped off within the course of? So that the clicks can go to the ignorance on full show by white males with energy and the capability to vary issues, however who’re as an alternative doing nothing however having fun with the eye? We know this all impacts extra marginalized of us even deeper as a result of it’s historic. Systemic. A pastime in America.

I assume I ought to be grateful to now not be a part of the 86% now that I’ve been banned in additional than two districts. I’m indignant and damage, as a lot as I’m feeling pissed off and bitter. I do know these are the exact emotions meant to be taking place, and I additionally know that the impact of silencing me and others like me is the aim…and you already know, it’s getting nearer and nearer to working. Every morning, I get up and marvel how far more I can punch myself within the face.

There aren’t any roadmaps for this. Retaliatory e book banning is a brand new one.

• Boyle County Schools (KY), which had interpreted a brand new state regulation as open season on college library books, simply realized they need to put all the books they removed back on shelves.
• Boy Toy will stay in Dover High School (NH).
• Carroll County Schools (MD) will retain 5 contested books, together with The Bluest Eye. Story for me is paywalled.
• Students in better New Haven, Connecticut, rallied for the best to learn.
• In Sitka, Alaska, college students launched a decision to their college board to make sure there should not e book bans.
• This extremely vital information piece is behind a paywall. Fulton County, Pennsylvania, supervisors are threatening to chop funding to Quarryville Library over books with transgender content material. The follow-up to this story is additionally paywalled, nevertheless it appears to be like like Olympian Johnny Weir funded the library after the cuts have been made.
• “A new proposal from a Fresno County [CA] supervisor would give parents more control over the books featured in children’s sections. ‘This is not about trying to isolate people or divide people,’ said Steve Brandau, Fresno County District 2 Supervisor. Brandau held a press conference Thursday morning announcing his proposed legislation, the Parents Matter Act for Fresno County Libraries. If passed, it would create new policies and oversight regarding books with sexual content and other age-inappropriate materials found in the children’s sections.” Sure, okay, to not divide folks besides to do precisely that.
• Let’s return to Liberty Lakes, Washington, the place a metropolis council member wished to tug a e book from the library. Then wished the town council to make the ultimate resolution on e book banning on the library. Both failed, however now there’s drama inside the metropolis council, and as soon as once more, it goes again to a bigot not attending to ban books on the library.
• Parents and college students are petitioning in Marietta, Georgia, to reverse a ban on Flamer.
• This is a good — terrifying and trustworthy to the place we’re proper now and have been for 2+ years — examine college board elections and e book banners out of Central Bucks (PA).
• “Two members of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing activist group, have reported several Florida school librarians to law enforcement. They claimed they had evidence that librarians were distributing ‘pornography’ to minors and requested that law enforcement officers be dispatched. This represents a serious escalation of the tactics deployed by members of Moms for Liberty against school librarians. On October 25, Jennifer Tapley, a member of the Santa Rosa County chapter of Moms for Liberty and a candidate for school board, contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. ‘I’ve got some evidence a crime was committed,’ Tapley said in an audio recording of the call obtained by Popular Information through a public records request. ‘Pornography given to a minor in a school. And I would like to make a report with somebody and turn over the evidence.’ Tapley made the call from the lobby of the main office of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in Milton, Florida.” It’s not a criminal offense to have age-appropriate supplies in libraries, however Moms For Liberty and the police are cozy, so naturally, the “I don’t co-parent with the government” contingent would run to the law-enforcement authorities for his or her co-parenting.
• Okemos Public Schools (MI) canceled their Scholastic Book Fair over the corporate’s habits associated to their numerous books case. Given that Scholastic’s apology stated nothing, truthfully, I’ll be shocked if we don’t see this occur extra.
• Montgomery County Schools (MD) eliminated Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts).
• 18 books have been challenged at Helix Character School (OR) this college yr, and each single one in every of them had LGBT+ characters or content material. The books will all stay on cabinets (article is paywalled).
• Gender Queer was challenged in Maine’s MSAD 51, however it’ll stay in the highschool library.
• This story by the AP highlights the librarians in search of authorized motion following their firing or involvement in anti-censorship work, together with Brooky Parks (who you could bear in mind from being a whistleblower in a Colorado library district and who confronted retaliation after).
• Kingdom of Ash will stay on cabinets in Farmington School District (AR).
• Story is paywalled, however the Lexington-Richmond Five district (SC) can be returning A Court of Mist and Fury to highschool library cabinets.
• In Brainerd, Minnesota, the destiny of Maas’s Queen of Shadows can be decided Friday throughout conventional work hours. It received’t be recorded, both. Not unusual nor suspicious.
• Berkeley County School District (SC) has reviewed 10 extra of the 93 books challenged within the district. Of these, 5 will stay as-is. Consensus about 5 different titles couldn’t but be reached.