JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Library is celebrating National Library Week and issued a statement of support for the American Library Association’s (ALA) stance on attempts to ban books.
ALA recently released its 2021 State of America’s Libraries Report. The report highlighted the challenges libraries faced in the second year of the pandemic and also the unprecedented number of attempts to ban books.
According to the report, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. Most targeted books were by or about Black or LGBTQIA+ persons.
Wyoming was no exception. Campbell County Public Library Board reviewed eight formal challenges and many informal challenges directed to library staff.
Teton County Library Board voted in December to adopt an Intellectual Freedom Policy, spelling out patrons’ rights to freedom in the library materials they choose to read, listen to, or view, without the censorship of others.
“The library holds censorship to be a purely individual matter and declares that while anyone is free to reject books and other materials of which they do not approve, they may not restrict the freedom of others,” said the Library.
ALA President Patricia “Patty” Wong addressed the uptick in attempts to ban books.
Wong said, “We support individual parents’ choices concerning their child’s reading and believe that parents should not have those choices dictated by others. Young people need to have access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives. So, despite this organized effort to ban books, libraries remain ready to do what we always have: make knowledge and ideas available so people are free to choose what to read.”
In response to the uptick in book challenges and other efforts to suppress access to information, ALA has launched Unite Against Book Bans, a national initiative focused on empowering readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship. More information is available at uniteagainstbookbans.org.
