By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Schools recently received a request for a list of all the books in the district’s libraries.
The emailed request was fulfilled with the thousands of book titles, according to district Treasurer Cathy Schuller.
As with all public records requests, the district was not allowed to ask for the name of the person making the request or the reason for the request.
But with the growing number of library book bans across the nation, the email has some citizens on edge about the motivation. The board of education meeting had standing room only Tuesday evening, though the topic was not addressed by the board.
“That’s why I came,” Janet Parks, president of the League of Women Voters in Bowling Green, said of her opposition to book banning efforts.
Attempts to ban books from school libraries in America are on track to rise again this school year, after reaching historic highs last year, two national reports have found.
The studies, released over the weekend by the American Library Association and PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting book bans, both suggest that the number of books being targeted for removal from school libraries is expected to exceed the thousands targeted last year. Both counts are likely significant underestimates, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
More than 1,600 book titles across 32 states were banned from public schools during the 2021-2022 school year, with the bulk of the ban requests coming from a handful of right-wing groups pushing for censorship of books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color, a new report issued Monday said.
The states with the most incidents of banning are Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, according to an updated report released Monday by PEN America. Overall, there were 2,532 incidents of banning across the United States – with some occurring in Ohio.
“More often than not, current challenges to books originate not from concerned parents acting individually but from political and advocacy groups working in concert to achieve the goal of limiting what books students can access and read in public schools,” according to the report.
Bowling Green citizen Rick Busselle spoke during Tuesday’s board meeting, referring to the school district as the most important entity in a community, with great responsibility.
“School boards and libraries are under attack across the country,” Busselle said. “We respect you and we appreciate everything you do – and I just want to say thank you for your service.”
After the meeting, Parks expressed her opposition to book bans.
“Kids should be exposed to all kinds of ideas,” she said. “Kids can handle it.”
She was joined by Lee Hakel, of the LWV, who came armed with a short list of banned books – classics like “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult; “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini; “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood; “The House of Spirits” by Isabel Allende; “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison; “Catch 22” by Joseph Heller; “James and the Giant Peach” by Roald Dahl; and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain.
Parks talked about the disturbing trend of the general public believing it knows more than teachers when it comes to educating children.
“Let’s trust them to make the best decisions,” Parks said. “They know what students should be reading.”
Hakel agreed.
“They’re professionals,” she said.
A new book club is being started in Bowling Green, Hakel said as she left Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re only going to read banned books.”
