9 Ways You Can Take a Stand Against Book Banning

Last week I posted about How to Get Your Students Excited About Reading! and I brought up the topic of book banning. I want to elaborate a little more on that this week. In November, I attended YALL Fest, a young adult book festival held annually in Charleston, SC. I had the opportunity to attend a session on book banning that enabled me to see a little bit more of the differences in book banning between states and areas within states. While there are drastic differences as to the degree in which book banning is affecting libraries and schools, it is rampant across our country.

Book banning is not a new thing. In fact, there is a “Banned Books Week” held annually, since 1982, to bring people together and spread awareness of its effects. This year it will be held from Oct. 5-11.

Within this post I I hope to inspire you to get involved, if you wish, at a level you are comfortable with and share some ways in which to do that.

Affects of Book Banning

Banning books has a negative effect on students. When teachers and librarians are required to go through a time-consuming process to “make sure” all of the books students have access to are “appropriate” for students, this limits the amount of books available to students. Many teachers would rather provide little or no books, than have to catalogue and get approved their whole classroom library. Not because teachers would place “inappropriate” books into students’ hands, but because making teachers do this undermines teachers’ expertise and is just plain disrespectful. This means there will be less of a selection for students, which means more students are unlikely to want to read. When students have no interest in reading, their skills will not improve, thereby excaberated the reported lack of reading skills in our country. Furthermore, students are more interested when they can see themselves in characters. Many of the books that are getting banned have characters from marginalized communities that are just the characters students need in their lives.

Book banning, also, affects our society as a whole. It becomes more about control than what is actually in the books. According to Information Matters, book bans suppress critical thinking skills, stifle emotional growth, and hinder showing empathy (2023). These are just some of the effects book banning has.

Ways to Take a Stand Against Book Banning

1. Support your local library. -That can be as simple as using your local library. Or you can choose to donate money or be involved in the “Friends of” that most libraries have.

2. Support authors. -Buy banned books from the authors who write them. Show the authors that what they are writing is meaningful!

3. Follow and be active (if you choose) on social media pages that are against book banning. -Here are a couple that I follow: Freedom to Read SC and Families Against Book Bans. Pages like this can help you stay informed and up-to-date on what is going on. They, also, provide the opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded inviduals who want to make a change.

4. Show up at board meetings. -Use your voice to challenge book bans at school board meetings or, even, at a Department of Education meeting.

5. Join or Start a Chapter of the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (DAYLO) -It was created at Beaufort High School in South Carolina as a pro-literacy book club and has been growing chapters across the state of South Carolina as well as garnered national recognition on their advocacy for books.

6. Write local officials. -Let your local officials know your stance on book bans and show your support for the officals that support your causes.

7. Start a Little Free Library. -You can start a Little Free Library almost anywhere: your school, neighborhood, park, your own home, etc. Just make sure you get the correct permissions before starting a library at a public place. When you become a Little Free Library steward you are supporting literacy in your community and you can provide access to all kinds of books!

8. Show support for and watch Banned Together. -I have yet to watch this documentary, but it is on my to-do list. It is a documentary that is all about book banning.

9. Stay informed. -When we ignore what’s going on, we can’t complain when nothing changes.

Final Thoughts

I’m not a very outgoing person, so with this post I wanted to provide options at all levels of involvement to take a stand against book banning. Because every little bit helps in the fight against book banning!