2 posts tagged “book ban”

I thought you might like to see the face of the Westhampton Beach, N.Y., bookseller who defended the use of "salacious" books at the local high school.  Terry Lucas is the woman in white.

This picture was taken last weekend during the Christmas on Main Street celebration.  Again this year, Terry played Mrs. Santa Claus.  Those "elves" aren't so innocent either.  They all participated in Terry's banned books "read-in."  (Read yesterday's blog entry for more background.)

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression takes tremendous satisfaction in defending Mrs. Claus!  

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. 

If you want to do something to boost Terry's morale, stop by the Open Book and buy a book for the holidays.

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.