The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators hosted an online “UnBanning Books” panel, open to the public, on August 1. SCBWI executive director Sarah Baker welcomed more than 500 audience members to the discussion of combatting book bans, which kicked off the organization’s virtual summer conference, which had more than 1,600 registered participants. “As members of the children’s book community, we have a special responsibility to understand how book bans work and how to fight them,” Baker said. “We hope that this discussion will give you practical strategies to support intellectual freedom in your communities.”
Arthur A. Levine, president and editor in chief of Levine Querido, moderated the conversation among four presenters who shared a message of unity. Despite frustrating battles and setbacks, they take a long view toward victory. “We are winning this fight, which I know sounds bonkers, because we’re all here in this moment,” said Lee Rowland, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, now in its 50th year. “When people show up to school board elections and meetings, books get returned to the shelves. When people challenge [efforts to curtail free speech] in court, the criminal penalties are on hold.”
Rowland described attending a Moms for Liberty meeting on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and learning about the right-wing group’s three-part agenda to ban books, take anti-trans positions, and “kill the public education system writ large.” Rowland told SCBWI, “Do not kid yourself. This is the tip of a spear of a political movement to deprecate our public institutions,” so freedom to read advocates—even those who don’t attend school board meetings or picket in the streets—can attend author readings and show support for young people’s literacy. “The courts are with us, and public opinion is with us,” Rowland said. “In order to preserve and fight for that freedom to read, it comes down to us. It needs to be a kind of popular social movement at the grassroots level, paying attention to school boards and local government.”
Betsy Gomez, assistant director of communications and public outreach at Unite Against Book Bans and the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, underscored Rowland’s assessment of success. She listed key freedom to read lawsuits and legal victories in states including Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa. “Lawsuits are not a perfect solution, because they’re expensive,” Gomez said. “But when people are paying attention in their communities, they can effect change. Bucks County [Pa.] had a bunch of Moms for Liberty types on their school board, and they flipped that board to rational people. And we’re seeing that happening around the country.” Gomez, whose freedom to read career began at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, took heart in the fact that, notwithstanding parental advisory labels on 1980s music, and comics censorship decades earlier, “All of those types of music are still here, and they’re thriving. Comics are a billion-dollar industry now.”
Gomez shared concern about a “drastic” uptick in censorship efforts in both school and public libraries. While the ALA typically tracks more challenges in school libraries, she said, “What we saw in 2023 was a sharp spike in the attacks on public libraries, a more than 90% increase over the previous year in the attempts to remove materials,” especially books depicting LGBTQ and BIPOC communities. She explained that extremist groups target institutions with accusations of obscenity, harassment of staff, and policies that encourage fear-based decisions—which often go unreported—and these undermining tactics parallel demoralizing resource reductions like decreased library funding, fewer staff trainings, and the elimination of positions.
Shadow Bans and Silencing
Echoing Gomez’s points about intimidation, Kyle Zimmer, president/CEO and co-founder of nonprofit First Book and co-founder of the Diverse Books for All Coalition, attested that the term “pornography” is lobbed as “a hand-grenade that is used to scare people.” Zimmer said allies, even when they wholeheartedly believe in First Amendment rights, can be cowed by accusations that they’re distributing obscene content to minors. “When it’s somebody who’s not in that fight every single day, those contentious phone calls scare them away from calling their local school or their school board, and we need to think about mass approaches” to solidarity, she said.
Levine jumped in to assert that such bullying leads to “shadow bans. Librarians and teachers say, ‘Why even put this book on my shelf? I’m just going to cause myself trouble,’ and that doesn’t register as a ban.” He added that “it definitely registers with readers and with authors,” because Levine Querido “experienced a 50% drop in revenue” in 2023 “directly attributable” to fear-mongering. Orders for Darcie Little Badger’s A Snake Falls to Earth decreased after censors broadcast that Little Badger publicly identifies as asexual.
“My personal response is refusing to let the climate change what we publish,” Levine said. “That said, we are looking for other ways to fight.” He noted that the Independent Book Publishers Association, in coalition with the EveryLibrary Institute, will debut a program in September called We Are Stronger Than Censorship. IBPA chief content officer Lee Wind and PEN America right to read advocate Taslyn Magnuson will spearhead the effort, which aims to donate two or more books for every book banned or challenged in September 2024. “We hope to create a whack-a-mole defense,” Levine said.
Maggie Tokuda-Hall, representing the 2,000-strong membership of Authors Against Book Bans, said AABB would work with We Are Stronger Than Censorship, in parallel with Banned Book Week efforts that same month. “We’ll be treating this year’s Banned Book Week like a hard launch for our organization,” Tokuda-Hall said. “We’re hoping to have events all over the nation, from statehouse readings to candidate scorecards, banned book sales and drives, so it’s a really exciting time to join us.” When Levine asked Tokuda-Hall what publishers might do to support AABB and IBPA, Tokuda-Hall said publishers and authors must “never obey in advance” by self-silencing. “We should write as fearlessly as we always have, and publishers should publish accordingly.”
Rowland said the best strategy against censorship is open communication. “Our greatest tool in this moment is transparency,” Rowland said, and public observers should inform the NCAC, UABB, AABB, and OIF about attempted bans and harassment. “If you hear about censorship, even second- or third-hand, make sure to report it, because that helps us get the ball rolling on effective advocacy to fight it,” she reminded the SCBWI audience. “We win when it’s in the sunlight.”
