Michigan Advance’s Clay Wirestone writes, “Libraries don’t serve aggrieved individuals. They serve masses of people, either students or communities. A family can always choose not to check out an offending volume. They can choose not to visit the library altogether. A whole town or school still needs access to information, especially to new ideas or controversial subjects. Together, they learn and grow in compassion.”
Book bans
More than 1,600 book titles across 32 states were banned from public schools during the 2021-2022 school year, with the bulk of the ban requests coming from a handful of right-wing groups pushing for censorship of books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color, a new report issued Monday said
A U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee panel last Thursday examined why thousands of books, predominantly written by marginalized authors, have been banned from public schools, and the impact of those actions on students and teachers.
“What are they looking for? Every single one of them is different. Some auditors are looking for fame and fortune on YouTube and other auditors are looking for confrontation,” Deborah Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association (MLA), said of first amendment auditors.