Banned Books are Books Worth Reading
In high school, I recall reading a profoundly moving book about a formerly enslaved family who is haunted by what they believe to be the ghost of their dead child. It was a Pulitzer Prize winning book that engaged in many difficult topics—slavery and race relations, sexual assault, violence—but for me, it put into perspective the brutal realities of the lives that enslaved and emancipated people lived. This book, Beloved by Toni Morrison, has also been the subject of dozens of challenges and bans around the country.
Over the past few years in the U.S., we’ve seen a massive proliferation in the number of challenges and bans on books. According to data from the American Library Association, a record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship in 2022, a 38% increase from the previous year. These bans and challenges overwhelmingly target books about race and racism, books that have LGBTQ+ characters, books about difficult topics such as grief and death, books that contain any violent or sexual themes, and books by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors.
Last winter, I spoke with a friend about how disturbing it was to watch this rise in censorship and book bans around the country. I believe in free speech and democracy. Controlling what people can and cannot read and learn about by removing their access to certain materials is contrary to these beliefs. What’s even more disturbing to me is that this national trend seems to be the result of a relatively small group of people, with an agenda, who do not represent the opinion of the majority of Americans or Vermonters. In the 2021-2022 school year, just 11 adults were responsible for approximately 60% of all challenges nationwide. Meanwhile, a large majority of voters oppose efforts to have books removed from their public schools and libraries.
Because of this, I decided to host the Banned Books are Books Worth Reading tour this summer and fall. Over the past few months, I have been to over a dozen communities and spoken with hundreds of Vermonters about their thoughts on book bans. Many impassioned people came to share their support for free speech and to tell stories about the important things they learned from challenged and banned books. Of course, not everyone who has come to these events has been on the same page. I welcomed people with differing views in civil discussion. Of course, we are not a free society if people are not allowed to have differing opinions. I would like to express appreciation that we were able to have public conversations regarding difficult topics without the yelling and intimidation (from any side) that we have sometimes seen in other settings across the country. However, it was clear that a vast majority of Vermonters agree that we should continue to allow public and school libraries, with their trained professionals, to maintain their collection free from governmental restrictions. It was also clear that parents should (and do) have the right to ask for different books for their children if they wish.
Thankfully, while this trend of a few parents censoring what other families have access to in public schools and libraries has taken off around the country, we haven't yet seen it succeed in Vermont. Though public schools and libraries in our state have not seen well organized challenges to books in the past year, I have heard from dozens of librarians, teachers, and bookstore workers that there has been increasing pressure from some groups and individuals to restrict access to, or remove, certain books from their shelves. In pockets of Vermont, we’ve also seen some school board candidates run on platforms that include censorship of certain books and materials from classrooms and school libraries. We are not immune from these national trends that are developing due to misinformation that is repeated on some news sources.
It’s been extraordinary to see Vermonters’ passion for free speech, and against the path towards authoritarianism, these past few months. If you agree that access to history and diversity in our libraries and schools is important, I hope that you will go out and support your local bookstores and libraries and consider serving on local boards. If you have any questions or would like any more information on banned books, you can always feel free to contact my office.
Lt. Governor David Zuckerman