2023 Banned Books Update: Banned in the USA From PEN America: During the first half of the 2022-23 school year PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 unique titles. This represents an increase from the prior six months, from January to June 2022, in which 1,149 instances of book banning were recorded. Over 4,000 instances of banned books have been recorded since PEN America started tracking book bans in July 2021, affecting 2,253 unique titles. Overall, the bans impact 182 school districts in 37 states and millions of students.
“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book...” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower
"What I tell kids is, Don't get mad, get even. Don't spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don't walk, to the nearest nonschool library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they're trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that's exactly what you need to know.” ―Stephen King
"He who destroys a good book kills reason itself." ― Milton
“All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States -- and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!” ― Kurt Vonnegut
“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” ―Henry Louis Gates Jr.
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." ― Oscar Wilde
“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” ― Ray Bradbury
“The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, cancelled films — that thought is a nightmare. As though a whole universe is being described in invisible ink.” – Toni Morrison
Good one Fern. Some of those authors had a direct influence upon the development of my brain. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 which I borrowed from the high school library was my first experience of reading science fiction. Kurt Vonnegut Jr's Slaughterhouse Five taught young me that war is not back and white or simply good vs evil, countering the fabricated tales of guts and glory so prevalent at the time.
My 17-year-old daughter liked them all, but the one that spoke the most to her was Toni Morrison’s (all the blessings to Toni Morrison). My 13-year-old son liked Oscar Wilde’s quote the best. I also emailed them Foundation 451’s website with an explainer. We are all in favor of bad asses around here ;). A big Hell Yes from me to Steven King, in saying go read those books to see the world and change the world.
Hi Donna, The quotations came from a few different sources, and I thought about each one. Tony Morrison was placed last, so honored for the depth and distinctively Morrison sense to her quote. Yes, Steven King, was so direct and to this time. Henry Louis Gates Jr's 'lynching' spelled out book banning and burning to me.
Thank you Dave and Arthur. When I was young, I saw a film clip of German students, perhaps, the first to burn books in Nazi Germany. Those scenes were as you can imagine, and I was a young schoolgirl.
This sends chills down my spine. It should scare the hell out of everyone. What twisted thinking. Protect kids from books but not guns. Of course the fascists who are doing this aren’t really banning books to protect kids, it’s to prevent them from actual learning and to indoctrinate them.
It's not thinking Karen, it's fear and it's becoming more intense all the time. The near term will be tense and sometimes dangerous but there is hope that things are beginning to turn around.
Dave, I believe it is their political fascistic strategy, practiced by tyrants through the ages. Scare the population about the 'others', so that they are the people's only option.
You're right about that Fern and the fear they're instigating is a reflection of the fear they feel about the possibility of change that they won't be able to cope with.
just for you, Karen Dept.: I figured that poor Daisy doesn't get enough attention, so here she is with me just pre-pandemic. it's possible I was under the influence of one or another interesting mycological specimen, but there was no particular reason to tell you because nobody can tell the difference with me anyway...but she doesn't usually smile quite as broadly as she's smiling in this picture, so I figure the information could be relevant.
for folks interested in such things, that's a Zingalli speaker that went belly-up a few months later. they were replaced with Gallos, which have no case but vibrate top to bottom and look like something out of a very cheap '50's sci-fi movie. I forget the name of the subwoofer I'm sitting on, but it's also uniquely designed to process the low notes through the same wire as the Gallos, so there's no lag in the bass. this is all information I got from Danny, who is very generous with all that Disney money. I suggested that he go high-end when he started to get successful, and I seem to have created a bit of a monster. but a very nice one.
I love it David. Daisy’s smile is certainly a validation of her love for you. That is one of the best dog smiles I’ve seen, especially the way her eyes are looking at you.
I’m trying to find a good photo to rival your sweet smiling Daisy picture. But having a hard time. In the meantime here are 2 more of my cats, Turtle and Gordon Whitefoot
This is Ray. I adopted him from the shelter. He had been abandoned and hit by a car. No one claimed him and the shelter vet did several surgeries attempting to save his back leg that was so damaged. When I adopted him Ray got physical therapy and we did everything to help him regain his back leg. But the nerve damage was to severe. So we had a wonderful life together with my 3 legged Ray. His heart was as big as the sun. And I miss him still every day.
A local AP English teacher here has started a non-profit,Foundation 451, raising over 40k for a mobile library that is distributing tons of books. Really pisses off Moms For Liberty. Let’s ban books but not guns !
Jordan Klepper/ Daily Show had a guest this week who had previously worked in the gun industry for 25 years and now promotes gun safety.There is a JR 15( JR as in junior) being marketed to kids. He commented that this was the true “grooming” of kids.
I really liked it too. In fact, you can split the names and honor the "Foundation" trilogy as well as "Fahrenheit 451," and both are committed to the same thing: reason and truth and its preservation.
Adam Tritt, teaches AP English at Bayside High, Palm Bay, Fl. He is one of my heroes as we live in a red county, with a “constitutional” sheriff and Moms (Not !)for Liberty was founded here…sigh.
Reason 10,001: Ralph Yarl. (1. Email the prosecutor, Zachary Thompson: prosecutor@claycopa.com
2. Call the prosecutor at 816-736-8300
3. Call the Kansas City Police Department at 816-234-5111 or 816-234-5000
4. Let them know charges must be filed against the homeowner.)
https://fox4kc.com/.../kansas-city-teenager-shot.../amp/ ... but wait! In Northern CA there's the Antioch Police Department with their brutal and racist texts and corruption. It's almost like you have to just do your best wherever you are to lift up justice, kindness, truth and clear mental processing/ education.
P.S. Good luck with your plumbing. Temporarily where there's an awful connection, so reading and comments are difficult... where there's an awful connection And Old Cast Iron Pipes! Eesh.
The library was my refuge from a miserable and abusive mother. I read of far off lands, animals, people who fought to make things better, people who were vastly different from me, world religions, explorers, and so MUCH history. These small minded, ignorant, cowardly sorry excuses for human beings can go empty the beach with an eyedropper.
It’s just disgusting. How can people live in such anti-intellectual environments.
I’m getting to the age (65) where the mind thinks of retirement, and trying to figure out how to make that 401(k) stretch. I’ve had several partners go to Florida or other low (income) tax jurisdictions. Honestly I can’t imagine it. Being surrounded by stupid bigoted people, limited access to serious music, art, plays, opera...not to mention the crappy weather. I may have to move out of La Jolla when I hang it up, but I sure as hell ain’t moving out of California.
I have 426 hard cover and paperbacks I was hoping to donate to the library. But, Moms For Liberty have invaded here and most of my books, for 1 of their reasons or another would probably be banned. They're pulping junk
books. So, they are finding new homes at long term care
facilities my daughter is an
MDSRAC Consultant for. I have a hard time holding books now and my daughter
gave me a Kindle 2 yrs ago.😁 It's crammed full with so
are you saying that they're actually banning books from public libraries that aren't in school?
I have so many books on my Kindle that I have to be selective about what I have downloaded at any given time. but the prices have really gotten out of hand.
They're currently working on the schools and universities, David. Public libraries will be next and aren't taking donations now.🥺
On your Kindle, have you set up different authors
or categories, where you can drop your books when finished reading?
The books you buy are all stored on the cloud too. Yes, some of the pricing is getting up there, but I am unable to go to stores very often or library, so I will not gripe too much. 😁
I just usually archive them (when I remember to) or delete them (I can always re-send them if I need them again). and I share my library with three other people. don't tell anyone.
can they actually ban books from the public library?? in almost 75 years I don't remember that EVER happening. there were those immoral books you couldn't BUY legally (Henry Miller, "Lady Chatterley's Lover," et al), but didn't we get past all that shit in (I think) 1961?
this is completely insane.
and like you, bookstores (the ones still standing) are places I just don't get to very much, so....
They're doing it in Florida as we speak. Librarians are having to remove books from the shelves. Some are going to supervised areas where only adults can get them. I think in GA too. AL?
I know there are several red states doing it. SC I think is too. "Your reading will be supervised." Heck, here in
Arkansas, they just passed 2
bills into law. 1 is for child
labor under 16/no parent permission needed to work.
2. Resegregated the public schools in the southern part of the state - all the White children get to go to private or voucher schools. Welcome to Jim Crow South.
It certainly is completely insane David and my sweet buddy Jubal. There should be a law that protects our right to read what we want. Oh wait, there is!
“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book...” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower
"What I tell kids is, Don't get mad, get even. Don't spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don't walk, to the nearest nonschool library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they're trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that's exactly what you need to know.” ―Stephen King
"He who destroys a good book kills reason itself." ― Milton
“All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let's get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States -- and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!” ― Kurt Vonnegut
“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” ―Henry Louis Gates Jr.
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." ― Oscar Wilde
“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” ― Ray Bradbury
“The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, cancelled films — that thought is a nightmare. As though a whole universe is being described in invisible ink.” – Toni Morrison
A great collection of quotes!
Fern, this retired librarian thanks you, from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you, Camilla...and for having been a librarian! You fed our curiosity at a price we could afford. Salud!
Good one Fern. Some of those authors had a direct influence upon the development of my brain. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 which I borrowed from the high school library was my first experience of reading science fiction. Kurt Vonnegut Jr's Slaughterhouse Five taught young me that war is not back and white or simply good vs evil, countering the fabricated tales of guts and glory so prevalent at the time.
Printed and on my two Gen Z'ers desks this morning.
That is impressive. What were their responses?
My 17-year-old daughter liked them all, but the one that spoke the most to her was Toni Morrison’s (all the blessings to Toni Morrison). My 13-year-old son liked Oscar Wilde’s quote the best. I also emailed them Foundation 451’s website with an explainer. We are all in favor of bad asses around here ;). A big Hell Yes from me to Steven King, in saying go read those books to see the world and change the world.
Hi Donna, The quotations came from a few different sources, and I thought about each one. Tony Morrison was placed last, so honored for the depth and distinctively Morrison sense to her quote. Yes, Steven King, was so direct and to this time. Henry Louis Gates Jr's 'lynching' spelled out book banning and burning to me.
Really well done Fern. Thanks.
Fern, you hit it out of the ballpark! Thanks for the apropos quotes.
Great work, Fern.
Thank you Dave and Arthur. When I was young, I saw a film clip of German students, perhaps, the first to burn books in Nazi Germany. Those scenes were as you can imagine, and I was a young schoolgirl.
This sends chills down my spine. It should scare the hell out of everyone. What twisted thinking. Protect kids from books but not guns. Of course the fascists who are doing this aren’t really banning books to protect kids, it’s to prevent them from actual learning and to indoctrinate them.
And to show off their power to police ideas.
It's not thinking Karen, it's fear and it's becoming more intense all the time. The near term will be tense and sometimes dangerous but there is hope that things are beginning to turn around.
Dave, I believe it is their political fascistic strategy, practiced by tyrants through the ages. Scare the population about the 'others', so that they are the people's only option.
You're right about that Fern and the fear they're instigating is a reflection of the fear they feel about the possibility of change that they won't be able to cope with.
just for you, Karen Dept.: I figured that poor Daisy doesn't get enough attention, so here she is with me just pre-pandemic. it's possible I was under the influence of one or another interesting mycological specimen, but there was no particular reason to tell you because nobody can tell the difference with me anyway...but she doesn't usually smile quite as broadly as she's smiling in this picture, so I figure the information could be relevant.
for folks interested in such things, that's a Zingalli speaker that went belly-up a few months later. they were replaced with Gallos, which have no case but vibrate top to bottom and look like something out of a very cheap '50's sci-fi movie. I forget the name of the subwoofer I'm sitting on, but it's also uniquely designed to process the low notes through the same wire as the Gallos, so there's no lag in the bass. this is all information I got from Danny, who is very generous with all that Disney money. I suggested that he go high-end when he started to get successful, and I seem to have created a bit of a monster. but a very nice one.
I love it David. Daisy’s smile is certainly a validation of her love for you. That is one of the best dog smiles I’ve seen, especially the way her eyes are looking at you.
I know, right?
I’m trying to find a good photo to rival your sweet smiling Daisy picture. But having a hard time. In the meantime here are 2 more of my cats, Turtle and Gordon Whitefoot
This is Ray. I adopted him from the shelter. He had been abandoned and hit by a car. No one claimed him and the shelter vet did several surgeries attempting to save his back leg that was so damaged. When I adopted him Ray got physical therapy and we did everything to help him regain his back leg. But the nerve damage was to severe. So we had a wonderful life together with my 3 legged Ray. His heart was as big as the sun. And I miss him still every day.
A local AP English teacher here has started a non-profit,Foundation 451, raising over 40k for a mobile library that is distributing tons of books. Really pisses off Moms For Liberty. Let’s ban books but not guns !
Jordan Klepper/ Daily Show had a guest this week who had previously worked in the gun industry for 25 years and now promotes gun safety.There is a JR 15( JR as in junior) being marketed to kids. He commented that this was the true “grooming” of kids.
The gun industry should be gunned down.
I know what you mean but I wouldn’t want to be haunted by those assholes.
I wouldn't lose three seconds of sleep over it. about some things, I have no problems going full-on psychopathic.
Foundation 451. Such an inspired name! As a lawyer working in nonprofits, I really admire that level of inspiration.
I really liked it too. In fact, you can split the names and honor the "Foundation" trilogy as well as "Fahrenheit 451," and both are committed to the same thing: reason and truth and its preservation.
Oohh. I hadn’t thought of that. 👍🏻
Hi Kathy, do you have a link to the foundation, its name and or the AP English teacher's name, state's or town's name? Thank you.
Hi Fern,
Adam Tritt, teaches AP English at Bayside High, Palm Bay, Fl. He is one of my heroes as we live in a red county, with a “constitutional” sheriff and Moms (Not !)for Liberty was founded here…sigh.
https://foundation451.org/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/09/06/banned-book-drive-becomes-nonprofit-florida/8002113001/O
💙
Thanks, Kathy, for sharing news of hero teacher, Adam Tritt's plans for a mobile library and how we may contribute.
You are always appreciated, Fern.💙
Reason 10,001: Ralph Yarl. (1. Email the prosecutor, Zachary Thompson: prosecutor@claycopa.com
2. Call the prosecutor at 816-736-8300
3. Call the Kansas City Police Department at 816-234-5111 or 816-234-5000
4. Let them know charges must be filed against the homeowner.)
https://fox4kc.com/.../kansas-city-teenager-shot.../amp/ ... but wait! In Northern CA there's the Antioch Police Department with their brutal and racist texts and corruption. It's almost like you have to just do your best wherever you are to lift up justice, kindness, truth and clear mental processing/ education.
P.S. Good luck with your plumbing. Temporarily where there's an awful connection, so reading and comments are difficult... where there's an awful connection And Old Cast Iron Pipes! Eesh.
Yep to all.
The library was my refuge from a miserable and abusive mother. I read of far off lands, animals, people who fought to make things better, people who were vastly different from me, world religions, explorers, and so MUCH history. These small minded, ignorant, cowardly sorry excuses for human beings can go empty the beach with an eyedropper.
Yes, Stephanie my escape from an alcoholic abusive mother also. And in the summer the Book Mobile.😁
Who sits on the board is so important. This is interesting
https://truthout.org/articles/progressive-library-boards-can-block-right-wing-censorship-heres-how/
It’s just disgusting. How can people live in such anti-intellectual environments.
I’m getting to the age (65) where the mind thinks of retirement, and trying to figure out how to make that 401(k) stretch. I’ve had several partners go to Florida or other low (income) tax jurisdictions. Honestly I can’t imagine it. Being surrounded by stupid bigoted people, limited access to serious music, art, plays, opera...not to mention the crappy weather. I may have to move out of La Jolla when I hang it up, but I sure as hell ain’t moving out of California.
Reason #5,643 why I homeschool. We read ALL the books.
I have 426 hard cover and paperbacks I was hoping to donate to the library. But, Moms For Liberty have invaded here and most of my books, for 1 of their reasons or another would probably be banned. They're pulping junk
books. So, they are finding new homes at long term care
facilities my daughter is an
MDSRAC Consultant for. I have a hard time holding books now and my daughter
gave me a Kindle 2 yrs ago.😁 It's crammed full with so
many books and lots of room
for more. Where there's a will,
there's a way.👍 Kids are so
inquisitive.
are you saying that they're actually banning books from public libraries that aren't in school?
I have so many books on my Kindle that I have to be selective about what I have downloaded at any given time. but the prices have really gotten out of hand.
They're currently working on the schools and universities, David. Public libraries will be next and aren't taking donations now.🥺
On your Kindle, have you set up different authors
or categories, where you can drop your books when finished reading?
The books you buy are all stored on the cloud too. Yes, some of the pricing is getting up there, but I am unable to go to stores very often or library, so I will not gripe too much. 😁
I just usually archive them (when I remember to) or delete them (I can always re-send them if I need them again). and I share my library with three other people. don't tell anyone.
can they actually ban books from the public library?? in almost 75 years I don't remember that EVER happening. there were those immoral books you couldn't BUY legally (Henry Miller, "Lady Chatterley's Lover," et al), but didn't we get past all that shit in (I think) 1961?
this is completely insane.
and like you, bookstores (the ones still standing) are places I just don't get to very much, so....
They're doing it in Florida as we speak. Librarians are having to remove books from the shelves. Some are going to supervised areas where only adults can get them. I think in GA too. AL?
I know there are several red states doing it. SC I think is too. "Your reading will be supervised." Heck, here in
Arkansas, they just passed 2
bills into law. 1 is for child
labor under 16/no parent permission needed to work.
2. Resegregated the public schools in the southern part of the state - all the White children get to go to private or voucher schools. Welcome to Jim Crow South.
My lips are sealed about your "sharing". Bamboo splinters under my nails will never get me to rat you out.
It certainly is completely insane David and my sweet buddy Jubal. There should be a law that protects our right to read what we want. Oh wait, there is!