Book banning stirs up students
November 19, 2009
In Lake County, Fla. on Sept. 30, a group of parents brought a large list of books up for debate and review. A couple miles north, Florida State University students, faculty and administrators were reading books from the American Library Association’s banned books list on Landis Green.
Chairs were set up in the shade of one of Strozier library’s trees, along with a P.A. system.
“We had a really fantastic turnout, I think the shade really helped,” said Michelle Demeter, vice president of FSU’s student ALA chapter.
Around 35 to 50 people attended the reading, but the audience members changed through the day as people went to class.
“I would like to see it grow with continuing support from the community,” said John Fenstermaker, president of Friends of FSU libraries.
A variety of literary genres were represented. The books ranged from Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, to Dav Pilkey’s The Adventures of Captain Underpants. Toni Morrison was the most popular author, with two of her books chosen off of the banned books list.
“She’s so compelling,” said English professor Dennis Moore, who read from Morrison at the event. “I think she outdid Ralph Ellison with her novel ‘Beloved,’ displacing what I had thought as the best novel America has produced in the 20th century.”
Some readers went for compelling in a different way.
“Captain Underpants was something I knew nothing about, but Pam Doffek gave a very dramatic reading,” said Fenstermaker.
Pamala Doffek, director of the Goldstein Libraries, said she chose the book because it was something different.
“It is not as serious contemporary juvenile fiction, it appealed to the dramatic in me,” said Doffek.
Demeter has read from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 for two years in a row now and said she feels it is the ideal choice for this event.
“What better book to read than a book about banning books, burning books, and eliminating books, than a book that was itself censored without the author’s knowledge?” said Demeter.
All the readers were united on one issue: the belief that banning books is wrong.
“It’s something to take seriously and attend to when a society can ban things,” said Moore.
Demeter takes a similar approach when choosing what she reads. If there is book that she thinks is “trash”, she will avoid reading it rather than restricting anyone from reading it by banning it.
Fenstermaker believes that we should “have access”.
“The freedom to read is one of the most important freedoms in our society,” said Julia Zimmerman, FSU’s new head librarian.
Not everyone in Tallahassee feels the same way. According to Helen Muller of the LeRoy Collins Public Library in Tallahassee, the two main challenges that came up this year were for the book Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and the Secrets of Boys series.
“They were both from popular young adult authors and were clearly written for young adults,” said Muller.
Those who filed these complaints were asking that these books be placed in the adult section of the library. Anyone who has a complaint about a book can fill out a form and request a review of library materials. The nine member advisory board will meet, review the challenge, and form a decision.
In the aforementioned cases, the books remained in their original location.
Though the library did not put on an event for banned books week, Muller said it was an everyday observance.
“We celebrate the freedom to read every day,” she said.
Countless books are challenged in communities all over these United States. A resolution to the Lake County situation has not yet been reached.
