Some of the reading material inside the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, Massachusetts. It's America's oldest lending library, founded with books donated by Benjamin Franklin in 1790. (Photo by Si Dunn)
In America, you are free to hate a book's title or its subject matter. You also are free to not read the work.
But trying to prevent others from reading the book--whether you've read it or most likely not--infringes on their First Amendment rights to receive information and ideas. And it is a form of censorship that should never be tolerated in the United States.
"The freedom to read is essential to our democracy," the American Library Association has declared. "On June 25, 1953, we said that we trust the people of this nation to make their own decisions about what they read and believe -- 70 years later we still trust them to make their own decisions." (See the rest of the ALA's latest "Freedom to Read" statement here.)
For centuries, certain religious, political, and other moralistic leaders have attempted to ban particular books or even burn them out of existence. But many targeted books have survived and found wider audiences as a result. The bans have spurred new interest in reading what others think would disturb, harm, misinform, or wrongly encourage you. Also, many brave, intelligent, and fair-minded people have risked their lives or livelihoods to snap up copies of banned books, then hide them, treasure them, and make them available to others who want to read and consider the banned contents.
A few random library books on topics that various readers may find informative or useful. (Photo by Si Dunn)
In 2023, with immediate access to millions of books, articles, videos, and other sources of online information, it's hard to believe that hard-right conservative groups keep trying to force public and school libraries to remove certain materials from circulation and classrooms--and sometimes succeeding. It's also hard to believe that in some school districts ruled by ill-informed, overly political boards and parent groups, campus libraries are being closed, and librarians are losing their jobs. These are uncomfortable echoes of what happened to many books in certain countries just before World War II.
Want to keep up with some of the latest news about book bannings in America? See this website: https://bannedbooksweek.org/. Also, Banned Books Week will be observed Oct. 1-7, 2023.
Some clear-minded individuals, parents, educators, librarians, and booksellers who hate book bannings have fought some of the book removals by making sure copies of the banned books are readily available or even distributed to students and teachers away from schools. Hopefully, this pro-democracy action will continue.
To keep up with which books are being banned and where the bans are happening, check out this PEN America website as a well-informed starting point.
What would Benjamin Franklin think of book bans in the 21st century? Nothing positive, most likely. The town leaders of Franklin, Mass., had hoped the aging Founding Father would just donate a church bell to their little community bearing his name. Instead, shortly before his death, Franklin donated a hundred books--at a time when books were more expensive than most people could afford. He considered them a much more meaningful and longer-lasting gift than some occasional clanging sounds from a steeple.
Some of the books that Benjamin Franklin donated in 1790. (Photo by Si Dunn).
Franklin's gift became the genesis for America's first public lending library. It's still operating today.
-- Si Dunn