As libraries around the country close out what certain advocacy groups and associations call Banned Book Week, celebrated September 18-24 this year, some Keller residents expressed concern after city officials requested that the public library remove a social media post promoting the week-long event.
“Want to check out any of these titles for yourself? Your Keller Public Library card can help you with that,” the now-deleted Facebook post read, as reported. The post highlighted a number of books whose place in school libraries were reportedly most frequently challenged around the country, with titles such as Gender Queer, All Boys Aren’t Blue, and This Book is Gay.
The descriptions underneath each book provide additional context for the challenges, with “considered sexually explicit” the most provided contextual reference. The information on the graphic, sourced from the American Library Association, suggests that the books were not necessarily removed from any particular library, but challenged most often.
It appears from the post that Keller’s Public Library does allow individuals to check out or otherwise access these books.
The decades-old Banned Books Week began in 1982, but when the Keller Public Library posted about this year’s event, the Keller city manager reportedly said the post needed to be removed after hearing from several city council members.
After that, the Keller Public Library post commemorating Banned Books Week was removed.
“City leadership was concerned that residents would think we were trying to cause controversy given recent debates about books in the school district, so we removed the post as that was certainly not the intent,” the email read.
Keller citizens who messaged the Keller Public Library to ask why the post was taken down received responses urging them to “still celebrate” Banned Books Week inside the library in person.
Heather McCown, another Keller resident, told WFAA that she also feels the city manager ordering the library to delete the social media post was out of bounds.
“To me, the city asking the library to remove it was a form of censorship,” she told WFAA. “We may not agree on which books should be challenged or banned, but it is important that we do not censor access to ideas.”
