Happy Banned Books Week, I got you a rant.
Yesterday I was at a book event and a person got up, walked over to one of the authors, took their mic and then spoke for several minutes without stopping. The gist of what he said was, he wanted more kids books for Filipino kids.
Now this is a delightful wish. And not about banning. But the energy of taking the mic from the person speaking and then declaring there are no kids books for Filipino kids and that these five on the panel should personally fix this is the same kind of energy we get from book banners. Yes, I'm being a little mean about someone who wanted to help kids. But here's the thing. There are kids books for Filipino kids. This panel (which was not about kids books, to be clear) had two authors who have also written YA. This person could have asked the panel if they knew any kids books, and maybe learned about Newberry Award Winner Erin Entrada Kelly. A librarian (did I mention we were in a library) could have told home about the Asian Pacific American Librarian's Association awards given to books about Asian Pacific characters.
Where I'm going is that librarians are trained to be aware of a wide range of books, be aware of the needs of their community, and to balance those with the funds available to them.
Book banning interrupts this process. Especially because book banners these days are just copying lists they've found online. (You can tell when titles from 20 years ago, that probably no kid has asked for because it's so dated, what were texting minutes? keep showing up on the lists.) And of course when they keep banning picture books.
I do think that parents can make choices for their children about the books they bring home. But I get mad when the book banners try to take the books out of the library altogether. Your kids may not get to read it, but what if I want to.
Support the freedom to read. Tell your electeds you like books. Want libraries funded and able to serve the entirety of their community. Happy reading.
