This year I wanted to make sure that our youngest library patrons and their caregivers could celebrate Banned Books Week. So I set out to find picture books that have been banned or challenged and use them for my baby storytime. Sadly, it wasn’t a struggle to find banned picture books appropriate for our tiniest readers as many were already a part of my storytime collection.
I introduced the theme of the baby storytime to the attendees by showing a few banned picture books and I then briefly explained why each title had encountered challenges and bans. Some infamously bizarre cases like Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers earned scoffs and incredulous exclamations. Others like Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn, The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi and one of my all time favorite storytime books, Max and the Tag-along Moon by Floyd Cooper showed us the dangerous and disconcerting consequences of censorship. The caregivers’ curiosity over these banned books started a great discussion about the initiatives of ALA and the rights of library patrons.
It was galvanizing and also a bit surreal to have an in depth conversation on intellectual freedom while babies happily babbled and munched on board books. I wanted the families to feel informed and empowered from this storytime. Families with young children might not realize that they too can be impacted by book bans. During these unprecedented times it’s crucial to have this kind of dialogue with our community. As library professionals we must help patrons of all ages understand that book bans have no place in our libraries.
The success of this baby storytime has really motivated me to use themes of intellectual freedom in my other storytimes and programs. I plan to implement the excellent ALSC Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit for more ideas. What about you? Have you ever held a Banned Books themed storytime? What is your favorite banned picture book? How do you advocate for the freedom to read at your library?
Today’s blog post was written by Caitlin Tormey, Librarian, Sacramento Public Library on behalf of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. They can be reached at caitlinlibrarian@gmail.com.
This post addresses the core competencies of II. Reference and User Services and V. Outreach and Advocacy.
Rosemary Kiladitis
I used to do a Banned Book Storytime every year during Banned Book Week! Parents were baffled at how Brown Bear, Brown Bear could be a banned book (especially when I told them why), and chuckled at the reasons behind In the Night Kitchen and Where the Wild Things Are. I’ll be doing a Freedom to Read storytime next weekend; I’ll be reading Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee, Dr. Seuss’s Hop on Pop, and Strega Nona.