Worcester residents can submit a request for reconsideration of library material that they find inappropriate. But complaints with viewpoint discrimination will not be accepted, said Jason Homer, the WPL’s executive director.
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Amid growing attempts to ban access to books that focus on racial and LGBTQ+ issues, the Massachusetts Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill to create statewide guidelines for school libraries to fight against book removals.
The bill requires the selection of library books to be based on a teacher or employee’s professional training, independent from personal or political views. It also prohibits a book from being removed unless it goes through a public hearing and is found by the district that the material “is devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value or is not age-appropriate for any child who attends the school.”
The number of books challenged or banned in public school districts has increased sharply in the past two years, according to a report by PEN America, a nonprofit advocating for free expression. Most of the books explore race and racism, gender identity and sexuality.
Massachusetts has seen an increase in the number of book challenges from libraries and classrooms. According to the American Library Association, 45 library book challenges took place in 2022, which is more than the past nine years combined with a total of 38 challenges.
Defenders of the bill argue that book removals threaten children’s access to information. Instead of asking libraries to remove books from shelves, parents should be responsible to address issues they find concerning, said Nicholas LaRue, a leader of the Massachusetts chapter of the national organization Authors Against Book Bans.
LaRue shared an example of when the LGBTQ+ themed book “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo, another member of the organization, was banned due to complaints citing “sexual conduct” regardless of the book’s broader context.
“That is where adults are failing children,” he said. “This isn’t an issue of the teacher teaching LGBTQIA+ material. This is because you don’t want to talk to your son, daughter or others about this subject, because it makes you personally uncomfortable.”
LaRue participated in Worcester Public Library’s Banned Books Week in October, inviting readers to write postcards to state legislators, urging them to pass the bill that would protect books in school libraries.
A few people LaRue met at the event had doubts about the bill, he said.
“They were like, ‘We don’t support book banning, but do these books really belong in places where young people can get their hands on them?’” LaRue said that the bill establishes reporting mechanisms, making sure that librarians are accountable for selecting age-appropriate books and parents are able to challenge the decision.
According to WPL Collection Development Policy, Worcester residents can submit a request for reconsideration of library material that they find inappropriate. But complaints with viewpoint discrimination aren’t accepted, said Jason Homer, the WPL’s executive director.
Homer thinks the bill protects free expression from personal belief systems and values.
“If you choose to not have your kids see something, that is okay for you to make a decision about your family,” he said. “It is not OK for you to make a decision about someone else’s family.”
Sen. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, who voted against the bill, said parents would lose their right to get involved in the book selection and removal process, especially “some completely inappropriate, sexually oriented books that I just don’t think middle school kids should see.”
While agreeing that censorship is not acceptable, he said, “I do think it’s appropriate to have discussions about what book our children read.”
This bill establishes a subjective measure that will give interest groups access to promote particular types of books, Durant said. “Defenders will say it shouldn’t be a particular group that is trying to ban these books. Well, you know what? It shouldn’t be a particular group that’s promoting them.”
