Book bans have no place in a free society | Editorial

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel about a firefighter who burns down houses that own books. The 1953 novel, which some have tried to ban over the years, is set in an unnamed city in the distant future.

In many ways, that disturbing future doesn’t feel too far removed from what’s happening right now.

By one count, there were more than 3,300 instances of banned books in public schools across the country during the last academic year — a 33% increase compared with 2021-22. Efforts to challenge and take books off the shelves have overtaken school boards and local libraries nationwide, dividing towns and pitting neighbor against neighbor.

The Philadelphia suburbs are ground zero for many of the book bans in Pennsylvania, which ranks among the top states for book bans in schools. It is a shameful distinction for a state founded by William Penn as a haven for religious freedom for fellow Quakers.

The Central Bucks school officials made national news after a conservative majority gained control of the board and began pushing book bans and prohibiting Pride flags in classrooms. Similar book ban efforts have popped up at the North Penn and Wissahickon School Districts in Montgomery County, the Pennridge School District in Bucks County, and the Downingtown Area and Oxford Area School Districts in Chester County.

The book bans are fueled by a network of conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, which the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled “extremist.” Moms for Liberty, founded in 2021 in the wake of pandemic shutdowns and mask mandates, says its mission is to defend parental rights at all levels of government.

But it only defends the rights of parents who agree with its extreme views.

The book ban efforts mainly target books about race, racism, and those with LGBTQ themes and characters. Book ban backers — including Republican presidential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — talk about “woke indoctrination,” whatever that means.

The book bans essentially boil down to censorship. Who are these self-appointed zealots who want to decide what books are available in schools and libraries?

There are professional educators and librarians who review age-appropriate books in schools. If parents don’t want their child to read a certain book, they can let the school know. But a vocal, politically driven minority should not tell others what they can or cannot read.

In fact, no one is making anyone read the disputed books. If anything, all the breathless attention on the books only increases interest in reading them. Not to mention that teens can access any book, and much more, via their mobile devices. All the energy to remove books from school libraries — efforts that last year were at their highest levels in more than two decades — is yet another distraction from the mission of education.

Book bans have been going on in America since at least 1637, which only underscores how ridiculous it is to still be having this debate. These campaigns are little more than attempts to limit free thought, which only leads to a society that is vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation.

Fortunately, many are pushing back on the book bans.

The Glenside Library has been encouraging visitors to read the books that the Central Bucks activists want to ban. Students, parents, and teachers mounted protests that reversed a book ban at the Central York School District.

An eighth grader in Kutztown launched a club that reads banned books and meets at a local bookstore. Similar banned book clubs have popped up across the country.

Even better, two bills that are pending in Harrisburg aim to curtail censorship efforts. State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D., Montgomery) introduced a measure that would essentially ban any book bans.

State Rep. Paul Friel (D., Chester), a former president of the Owen J. Roberts school board, proposed a bill that would prohibit book bans but allow parents to opt their children out of lessons or library materials that conflict with their beliefs.

In June, Illinois became the first state to ban book bans. Gov. Josh Shapiro and lawmakers in Pennsylvania should do the same.