Banned Books -- at the end of "Banned Books Week"

[Father Heathen]

There is no book banning in the United States. The whole promotion is a left-wing shibboleth based on lies.

Book Bans Are Rising Sharply in Public Libraries (Published 2023)

Two years into a surge in book banning efforts across the country, restrictions that were largely happening in school libraries, where they affected children, are now affecting the wider community as well.

www.nytimes.com

Book Bans Are on the Rise in the Gulf South. Here’s What’s Being Challenged in Alabama - BirminghamWatch

Efforts to ban books believed to be inappropriate for children and teens have seen a sharp uptick recently, but some libraries and bookstores are fighting back. Read more.

birminghamwatch.org

Public Libraries Face Threats to Funding and Collections as Book Bans Surge

"We haven’t seen this volume of censorship efforts in 30 or more years.”

time.com

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173274834/book-bans-library-funding-missouri-texas-ashcroft

Little Free Libraries aim to have a big impact in school book ban-barraged Florida

Little Free Libraries featuring banned books can be found throughout Florida, and in increasing numbers.

www.tallahassee.com

Banned Books Week: IL librarians face demands to remove titles

It has become almost routine in modern America: activist groups demanding libraries pull what they consider "objectionable books" from their shelves, but it is a practice dating back to the Middle Ages. This is Banned Books Week, when librarians and educators inform readers some organizations...

www.publicnewsservice.org

Florida Librarians Told to Remove Books With LGBTQ+ Characters, Even if Not Sexually Explicit

The librarians in a county in Florida have been told to remove all books with LGBTQ+ characters, even if the material doesn't contain sex.

bookriot.com

School district uses ChatGPT to help ban library books

Faced with new legislation, Iowa's Mason City Community School District asked ChatGPT if certain books 'contain a description or depiction of a sex act.'

www.popsci.com

 

[metis]

There is no book banning in the United States. The whole promotion is a left-wing shibboleth based on lies.

You certainly don't read or watch the news-- unless it's the Fox Propaganda Channel.

Here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/us/florida-banned-books/index.html

 

[Shaul]

Book Bans Are Rising Sharply in Public Libraries (Published 2023)

Two years into a surge in book banning efforts across the country, restrictions that were largely happening in school libraries, where they affected children, are now affecting the wider community as well.

www.nytimes.com

Book Bans Are on the Rise in the Gulf South. Here’s What’s Being Challenged in Alabama - BirminghamWatch

Efforts to ban books believed to be inappropriate for children and teens have seen a sharp uptick recently, but some libraries and bookstores are fighting back. Read more.

birminghamwatch.org

Public Libraries Face Threats to Funding and Collections as Book Bans Surge

"We haven’t seen this volume of censorship efforts in 30 or more years.”

time.com

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173274834/book-bans-library-funding-missouri-texas-ashcroft

Little Free Libraries aim to have a big impact in school book ban-barraged Florida

Little Free Libraries featuring banned books can be found throughout Florida, and in increasing numbers.

www.tallahassee.com

Banned Books Week: IL librarians face demands to remove titles

It has become almost routine in modern America: activist groups demanding libraries pull what they consider "objectionable books" from their shelves, but it is a practice dating back to the Middle Ages. This is Banned Books Week, when librarians and educators inform readers some organizations...

www.publicnewsservice.org

Florida Librarians Told to Remove Books With LGBTQ+ Characters, Even if Not Sexually Explicit

The librarians in a county in Florida have been told to remove all books with LGBTQ+ characters, even if the material doesn't contain sex.

bookriot.com

School district uses ChatGPT to help ban library books

Faced with new legislation, Iowa's Mason City Community School District asked ChatGPT if certain books 'contain a description or depiction of a sex act.'

www.popsci.com

Just like I wrote. All part of a well choreographed propaganda campaign.

 

[Father Heathen]

Just like I wrote. All part of a well choreographed propaganda campaign.

 

[Kfox]

Today is the last day of "Banned Books Week" 2023 (Oct 1 - 7), so I thought it would be interesting to discuss the list of the most banned classics in American public libraries and schools. Not specialized books about sexuality and so forth, but classics of Enlish literature. Here is the list, produced by American Library Association, of classic books that have faced the most challenges, and even been banned in many places.

So today, on Let Freedom Read Day, I'd be interested on anybody's thoughts on why they think any of the books on this list really should be banned from public libraries.

• "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee
• "The Catcher in the Rye," by JD Salinger
• "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck
• "The Color Purple," by Alice Walker
• "1984," by George Orwell
• "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley
• "Native Son," by Richard Wright
• "Slaughterhouse-Five," by Kurt Vonnegut
• "A Separate Peace," by John Knowles
• "The Lord of the Flies," by William Golding

Where are these books banned?

 

[metis]

Just like I wrote. All part of a well choreographed propaganda campaign.

 

[SkepticThinker]

So none of the listed books are banned today then. Also a ban is not, I don't want a pornographic book in my elementary school library. It is a nationwide ban so no one can get it. This is not happening at all.

Which of the books in the OP do you consider pornographic?

 

[SkepticThinker]

@Clizby Wampuscat, I was reading independently when I was just 3 years old. Many, many words were too hard for me, and that took some effort, but I didn't need anybody to read me stories from the kids books -- I could do it myself, thank you. And I've been doing that ever since. Hell, I found a copy of Lady Chatterly's Love when I was just 11. I didn't understand a lot of what was going on, but I didn't die from it. (I did, however, learn that just reading some words could produce an erection. That didn't kill me, either.)

It didn't take me very long, even as a young kid, to know the difference between fiction and non-fiction. In grade 9, I found I Claudius and Claudius the God in my school library (Robert Graves), and I read them. There was rape, and murder. There was serial naughtiness and orgies. This was really heady stuff. It didn't bowl me over, what a surprise.

Same here, almost exactly. Except that I read Lady Chatterley's Lover when I was twelve. And The Scarlett Letter.
I read The Handmaid's Tale at about 13 years old. What an eye opener.

Everybody in this modern era seems to underrate what kids are capable of coping with. It's more, far more, than most people think. And all kids are different: some will have a hard time understanding at 12 what others deal with easily at 8. Kids are -- and everybody hates me when I say this -- interested in sex, and will seek out information about it. If they can't find decent information, well, they'll take what they can get -- and that may be a whole lot worse than what they can find in their school or local library!

How would you answer a kid who asks, "did you and Dad have sex to make me?" Do you know how I would answer? I would simply say "yes." If the kid wants to know more, he'll ask. If that answer satisfies him, that'll be the end -- until he thinks of something else. No, kids aren't adults, but honestly answering their questions, satisfying their curiousity, is not going to hurt them -- not in the least, and in fact will make them more confident and informed adults.

Hell, back when Canada and some of the US was covered in Iroquois and Wendat longhouses, kids were right there beside their parents while the parents were making them a brand new baby brother or sister. It did not lead to psychosis, or terror of sex, or turn any of them into rapists, homosexuals or lesbians, or sexual predators. It's the same thing with meat. We eat it, but none of us ever sees how it goes from being a cute baby angora goat pronking in the meadow, to a tasty braised lamb shank with a nice root vegetable polenta. No, before we hid all that stuff away, the kids were there in the yard when the goat was killed -- and they lived through the experience.

Both of my grandparents grew up in a one-room cabin with no less than 5 other siblings, all of whom shared a bed right beside their parent's bed.

It's Thanksgiving in Canada today, and when I was young, the kids were in the yard when the turkey had its head chopped off. They learned where their food came from. And it didn't hurt them.

My grandmother used to tell me that she had no problem eating turkeys because they used to chase her around the yard and so she hated them. She used to love watching her dad chop their heads off LOL

 

[Shaul]

A magnificent picture of those that think books are being banned when they aren't!

 

[Father Heathen]

A magnificent picture of those that think books are being banned when they aren't!

Yes, it's all just a vast, convoluted conspiracy; a diabolical collaboration between every school, library, advocacy group, and news outlet in the country. I think I'll trust what's actually being observed and demonstrated to be true vs. some random guy on the internet throwing a fit because his political narrative was exposed as trash.

Here's yet another example of the problem from a few days ago: Alabama library nearly puts children's book written by author named Gay on banned list due to it being 'sexually explicit'

 

[Shaul]

Yes, it's all just a vast, convoluted conspiracy; a diabolical collaboration between every school, library, advocacy group, and news outlet in the country. I think I'll trust what's actually being observed and demonstrated to be true vs. some random guy on the internet throwing a fit because his political narrative was exposed as trash.

Here's yet another example of the problem from a few days ago: Alabama library nearly puts children's book written by author named Gay on banned list due to it being 'sexually explicit'

Did you even read your link? The book was never "banned". The library staff made a mistake in how it classified the book. Nobody tried to ban it at all. Furthermore the mistake was caught before the book was moved. It wasn't even ever removed at all. It was going to be mis-located into the wrong section of the library! Talk about trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Libraries have always had limited space and cannot possibly have a copy of every book printed. It's that simple.

 

[syo]

I've ripped apart many books. In the garbage bin they went. Burned some. I'm a vandal.

 

[Clizby Wampuscat]

Which of the books in the OP do you consider pornographic?

None.

 

[Father Heathen]

I've ripped apart many books. In the garbage bin they went. Burned some. I'm a vandal.

Too cool for school.

 

[metis]

Anyone who thinks that some books in public schools haven't been banned simply do not pay attention to the news: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/us/florida-banned-books/index.html

 

[anna.]

Supervisor Lawson-Remer Proposes Policy to Protect Books from Being Banned in County Libraries

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer Monday outlined a proposed policy intended to protect "banned books" and ensure they are accessible at all 33 county library branches.

timesofsandiego.com

The policy includes several suggestions, including supporting an Assembly Bill requiring state-funded libraries to create a written policy for the creation of book collections, preventing library boards from “banning or restricting the circulation of any materials based on their topics or the views, ideas, or opinions expressed in them,” as well as directing the Chief Administrative Officer to recognize Banned Book Week, and have the county acquire and make available hard and/or digital copies of banned books to ensure access at each county library location. . . .​

​

The ALA also reported a dramatic 65% increase in challenges of unique book titles in 2023 compared to 2022 — 47% of the targeted books involve LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals. Last year, the city of San Diego library in Rancho Peñasquitos was targeted by protesters trying to censor LGTBQ+ books.​

​

That library branch had a Pride display with dozens of books featuring LGTBQ+ characters or topics. The protesters checked out all the books and informed San Diego Head Librarian Misty Jones they were keeping the books unless the library excluded them from the collection.​

​

“(They) said they felt having those types of books on gender identity and sexuality for were not appropriate for children. It’s not in the children’s area. It’s in the front of the library,” Jones said. “And also, I think it discounts the fact that there are many, many children with two moms, two dads. There are children that identify as LGBTQ. This is not something that should be shielded from children.”​

​

Examples of “banned and challenged” books Include: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Goosebumps,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and “Brave New World,” among others. . . .​

​

On Tuesday, Aug. 27 the Board of Supervisors will vote on Lawson-Remer’s policy.​

​

 

[anna.]

 

[SkepticThinker]

View attachment 96289

Good grief.

 

[Secret Chief]

View attachment 96289

Under 30? Seriously? That's one ****** up country.
Oh no wait, it's a big fat nothingburger. Nothing to see here at all...move on...move on...

 

[anna.]

Under 30? Seriously? That's one ****** up country.
Oh no wait, it's a big fat nothingburger. Nothing to see here at all...move on...move on...

That's Idaho for you. How many kids have used libraries as safe spaces and portals to new worlds... It's the new worlds the book banners are afraid of. Reminds me so much of this: