With book bans at public libraries taking center stage around the country, the Michigan Library Association is calling on residents to push back against what it sees as censorship and a violation of First Amendment rights.
In doing so, the association has launched a six-month campaign – dubbed MI Right to Read – which calls on Michiganders to help raise awareness of communities looking to ban book titles or otherwise infringe on what it refers to as the public’s “right to read.”
“The majority of Michiganders support the work our public libraries do and want to see various perspectives portrayed in the content available at their local libraries,” said Debbie Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association. “Michigan’s public libraries are centers for community, and we want to ensure that librarians across Michigan can do their jobs and serve the needs of all individuals.”
In a statement, the organization urged Michigan parents to join their coalition to aid in speaking out against what it sees as book banning and censorship happening around the state.
In doing so, the campaign offers a toolkit for those interested in submitting letters to the editor of their local paper, graphics of support for local libraries and news surrounding the topic of book bans.
Michigan gained national attention in 2022 when residents of Jamestown Township voted to defund the Patmos Library after it refused to pull LGBTQ-related materials from its shelves. Barring new funding, the library is slated to close in mid-2024 after two operating millage proposals failed in the midst of fervor surrounding the book.
Most of the uproar centered on the 2019 graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which tells the author’s story of coming out as a nonbinary person. As part of the memoir, Kobabe recounts and depicts a sexual act which has left some feeling the book is not appropriate for children.
Kobabe, in an interview with MLive earlier this year, said the book’s topics are more geared toward high school ages and up and pushed back on the idea that graphic novels were inherently meant for child audiences.
Since the initial Patmos controversy challenges to books offered in public libraries have only ramped up, with contention also hitting the Lapeer Library in March of this year.
There, “Gender Queer” was the center of a dispute between community members who believed it should stay on library shelves versus those who wanted it gone on the belief its pages constituted a form of pornography.
Librarians, however, have argued a content neutral approach, maintaining libraries are simply venues for individuals to check out whichever books they like and should not be tasked with moderating who can check out what from their collections.
Lapeer County Prosecutor John Miller even weighed in on the topic, filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the library to find out more information on the book – but only after Miller was quoted in a Bridge Michigan article which alleged he was mulling whether keeping the book on library shelves could potentially constitute a crime.
Ultimately, the book stayed on Lapeer library shelves and Attorney General Dana Nessel has since been tasked with writing an opinion on whether book bans specifically targeting LGBTQ subjects are discriminatory in nature.
“We need help from parents and all community members when they see these types of efforts to limit or censor content at our public libraries,” said Juliane Morian, coalition member and Rochester Hills Public Library director. “Parents should know that librarians want to partner with them during their family visits to the library to help guide children to age-appropriate content. We can also share resources they might not know exist at the library, like e-books, audiobooks, STEM kits and more.”
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