At 6 p.m. on Oct 21,, Morse Library held a viewing of a documentary on banned books called “The Librarians.”
The documentary starts off ominous, the opening shot being a silhouette of a mystery woman. The anonymous shadow states, “librarians were under attack.” The frame then shifts to Texas, where Republican state Representative Matt Krause raises an eyebrow to 850 books that he wanted out of schools. This lawmaker wanted people to consider banning the books he deemed unfit for school libraries. He claimed he wanted “pornographic images” out of their children’s books. Although, some books on that list include “Race and policing in modern America”, “How to be an antiracist”, and even, “It feels good to be yourself: a book about gender identity.”
A librarian in Texas, Suzette Baker, comes into frame as she’s walking down the hall of her old library.
“That used to be my office,” she says to the camera, then looks inside the room through the closed door. After refusing to take “How to be an antiracist” off her shelves, the school fired her.
An old black and white clip comes on screen, men with nazi symbols on their sleeves throwing books into huge fires. Then it immediately cuts to a clip, in color, of parents and their teens throwing bags of books into raging flames. The clips are uncomfortably identical.
The book “Fahrenheit 451” is discussed as a parallel throughout the whole documentary. This classic piece of literature showcases a dystopian world where books are being banned and then sent to the fires just as seen in the clips.
Students, educators and librarians are wondering how we got here, in our current dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451.
The passionate wave of banning books got all the way to Florida, specifically Clay County. Books especially on black history and black excellence were being taken off the shelves. Even the book “Hair Love” was banned, a touching story about a young black girl having her hair done by her father. Why this was banned, I could not tell you.
The documentary also exposed the assault and fear the librarians had to endure, and still do. During a library board meeting, one librarian’s tires got slashed. In Louisiana, another librarian was receiving death threats, and was afraid to leave her house. In New Jersey, a librarian had a child come in and check out “Lawn Boy”, a fiction story that discusses queerness. Then, the mom of said child, in front of the whole school board, called this librarian a pedofile.
Every story that was added to the documentary were all the same, yet so different, they all added something new to the conversation. These librarians, only wanting to serve the next generation with an abundance of knowledge, were truly under attack.
The last story in the documentary was the most emotional. A conservative and religious mom from Texas, Monica Brown, gave the school board a speech on why LGBTQ+ books should be banned. Her gay son whom she doesn’t speak to anymore, Weston Brown, saw the video of her speech online. He was shocked because he and his siblings never attended public school, yet here she was telling the school board what they should do. He did the only thing he could after seeing the video, which was to attend one of the school board meetings himself. He came all the way from California, where he currently resides with his partner, to the school board meeting in Texas, with his prepared speech.
He pleads with the school board to consider opening their minds to other perspectives, and even if it’s not their belief, allowing the kids to make their own decisions. Weston advises them to not listen to religious or political angles, but to listen to educators and librarians themselves. His voice cracks as he speaks, pouring his heart out to everyone who’s listening.
During this emotional plea his mom is in the front row, filming the whole thing on her phone. Then it’s her turn to speak, where she uses vulgar language to say that queer books are explicitly sexual.
Weston took back his voice, standing up to his mom and people like his mom, telling the school board that being queer is okay. Kids should not be told that their identity needs to be hidden, or in better terms, taken off the shelf.
We are living in a scary time where different voices are “corrupt” voices that should be kept out of sight. The anonymous librarian from the very beginning of the documentary, the silhouette, tells a final chilling story about these banned books. Her friend who worked with her had a secret. She brought her to a door in the library, unlocked three different locks, and showed her what she had been hiding. It was shelves upon shelves of these banned books, the sight was jarring. She felt like locking these books up was like locking up the kids that related to them.
When the credits roll, and the lights turn back on, eyes in the room are misty, including mine. The film does an excellent job showing the fears librarians face with real firsthand experiences of death threats and verbal abuse.
This documentary made me appreciate literature even more (if that’s even possible). Books can save people, and make them feel like they’re not alone. For kids K-12, trying to find their identity, this is immensely valuable, and sometimes life changing. Read banned books, and watch this documentary if you are able. No one’s voice should be silenced.
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