Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, and I am Jazz

 

With so many censorship challenges raging in the country right now and the anniversary of the “I am Jazz” challenge coming up, we thought it was a good time to reflect on intellectual freedom and censorship. Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to research information from all points of view without restriction.  Considered an essential component of a democratic society, it is also the underlying philosophy that guides libraries. Where things usually get tricky is with children and young adults.  While libraries subscribe to the belief that a parent is the best person to decide what their child reads or doesn’t read, some parents think that some books should be banned for all children/teens based on their own moral or religious codes. (LGBTQ+ and books with racially diverse characters are a common target.) When one person tries to decide what is available for a community to be able to read, that is considered censorship.

 

 If you’re not familiar with the “I am Jazz” challenge, here’s a quick recap: in 2015, the Mount Horeb School District planned a reading of the picture book I am Jazz to help a transitioning transgender student feel welcome. A conservative group in Florida challenged the decision, but the community rallied together to support the reading.

 

BASE (Building a Safer Evansville) will be hosting an online reading of the book on Feb. 24, starting at 6pm on their facebook page as part of a nation-wide commemoration.  In the week leading up to the event, the Eager Free Public Library will have “Jazz and Friends” activity packets available at the craft table in the lower level. We hope you’ll pick one up and tune in on Feb. 24! 

 

If you’re curious about other recent challenges, one that has been in the news recently is Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, that was recently banned by a school district in Tennessee. A Pulitzer-prize winning novel based on experiences by the author’s parents, there is worry that anti-Semitic sentiment is behind the censorship. When there is more concern about mild profanity than the genocide that is the book’s focus, it does seem like an odd choice to target, especially when this book makes a hard topic more easily accessible for a younger audience. 

 

Commissioners in Llano County, Texas are taking an even more controversial approach: removing access to the ebook platform Overdrive altogether and closing the library for 3 days to conduct a “thorough review” of every children’s book in the library and assess their content.* School libraries in central Texas are under similar surveillance.  I wish we could say these incidents are isolated, but groups targeting specific books and the philosophy of intellectual freedom have become more organized and the attacks more frequent in the past year.  Libraries are lucky to have the support of the American Library Association and the ACLU, but we also need the support of our communities when challenges arise.  

How can you help? The BookRiot website has some great suggestions, such as supporting local journalism, voting, correcting misinformation when you see it, serving on a board, know where to find minutes from local meetings, show up to meetings, write letters, etc. (https://bookriot.com/how-to-fight-book-bans-and-challenges/) We hope you'll stand with us in defending the right to read.

*Texas book censorship targeting LGBTQ+ and race.