Only the battle, not the war

We lost a battle last week.  Approximately 75 parents of students at the Westhampton Beach High School on Long Island, New York, had complained to the school board about the inclusion of two books on a list of 300 titles that students can select for reading assignments.  They argued that James Patterson's Cradle and All and Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle should be banned because of their sexual content.

The first thing to note is that these parents were not complaining about books that their children were being forced to read.  Students could choose any of the titles on the list of 300, and parents were free to veto books they thought were inappropriate.

This fight was not about parental rights.  It trampled the rights of the parents who wanted their kids to be able to use these books.  No, this was your average power play by a group of conservative parents who want the school board to rein in the educators who put the books on the list.

And it worked.  The school board voted 4-3 last week to ban the books.

But the news was not all bad from Westhampton Beach.  The censors met strong opposition from community members who rallied behind the leadership of bookseller Terry Lucas, the owner of The Open Book.  Terry was one of four people who spoke at the initial school board meeting.  She circulated a petition and held a read-in at her store, which attracted 60 students, teachers, and librarians as well as a couple of local authors.

If your morale needs a boost, you can watch kids reading their favorite banned books in a video of the read-in on the Web site of the Library Club.   Or you can look at the smiling faces of those who participated. 

Freadom Fighters

2 comments

Independent booksellers have long been leaders in the fight for free speech.  If we want them to keep fighting, we have to help them survive.