PORT TOWNSEND — In 2022, book ban attempts numbered 1,269, the American Library Association said, noting it was the largest number in 20 years.
“Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color,” the American Library Association (ALA) said.
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2023, ALA recorded 695 attempts to remove materials and challenges to 1,915 titles. The total for 2021 was 729 attempts.
The Port Townsend City Council issued a proclamation Monday celebrating the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week, which runs through Saturday.
Started in 1982, Banned Book Week celebrates the freedom to read and highlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools, the ALA said.
“Whereas, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and whereas, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others,” the proclamation said.
“The City of Port Townsend Public Library encourages free people to read freely, now and forever,” the declaration said.
Port Townsend Library Director Melody Sky Weaver said the library has not received a formal challenge to any of its titles within the last 20 years.
“It all starts with having a really good development policy. It outlines how we approach collection development and try to represent diverse viewpoints,” Sky Weaver said.
Sky Weaver said the library has a clearly stated policy supporting freedom of speech and the freedom to read and does not support censorship.
“I like to talk about how important for a library collection to reflect everybody,” Sky Weaver said.
Nearly 51 percent of the nation’s 2022’s attempted book bans took place in schools and school libraries, the ALA said, and 48 percent in public libraries.
Most of the attempts to remove books from a library’s collection come from parents, 30 percent; followed by patrons, 28 percent; political or religious groups, 17 percent and school board members or administrators, 15 percent.
Other challenges come from elected officials, teachers and librarians and others, including non-custodial family members or community members without library cards.
Tamara Meredith, director and public records officer at the Jefferson County Library District, said in her six years in that position, only one formal challenge has been submitted.
That occurred in 2021, when someone requested the library remove Mariko Tamaki’s 2014 graphic novel, “This One Summer,” which was the ALA’s most challenged book in 2016 because it includes LGBT characters, drug use and profanity and it was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.
Once a person has filled out a request for consideration of removing a book, a committee is convened to review the material and determine whether or not the title fits within the library’s selection criteria, and if the title has been correctly shelved.
It’s more common that a title is moved to a different, more appropriate section, Meredith said, rather than being fully removed from the library’s collection.
Meredith said patrons sometimes do question the appropriateness of library materials, but conversations between staff and the patron often resolve the issue.
“We have those conversations about what policies are in place and nine times out of 10 it ends up being a really good conversation about freedom of speech, freedom to read,” Meredith said.
According to ALA’s data, there were 17 attempts to restrict access to books in Washington in 2022, involving 38 titles. The most challenged title in Washington in 2022 was Juno Dawson’s 2014 nonfiction “This Book is Gay,” No. 10 on the ALA’s most challenged books for 2022.
“We have had a few challenges over the years, but after meeting with families and communicating on the merits of all students having access to books of their choice, discussing our collection policy and the freedom to read, we have amicably settled any issues,” said Joy Wentzel, district librarian for the Port Townsend School District.
Noah Glaude, executive director of the North Olympic Library System, also said there we few formal challenges to titles and most concerns could be solved with a conversation.
“I think most people have been very reasonable because things don’t move to the next level,” Glaude said.
The last formal challenge to a title in the library’s collection was in 2020, Glaude said, and it was for a DVD copy of the 1915 silent film, “The Birth of a Nation,” which lionizes the Klu Klux Klan.
The film, while widely regarded as deeply racist, has also been noted as historically informative and in 1992 was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
“I think our staff do a really good job of explaining why we do have the things we have in our collection,” Glaude said.
NOLS has never removed any titles from its collection, Glaude said, and often adds material based on community requests.
“It’s important to have a variety of materials,” Glaude said. “Our collection is largely based on the interest in the community. We purchase a lot of new material for community members as well.”
“We’re all about adding new things as well, providing as much as possible,” he said.
According to the ALA, Texas led the nation in 2022 with 93 attempts to restrict access involving 2,349 titles. The next highest state was Pennsylvania with 56 attempts involving 302 titles.
________
Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
