“Banned Books,' one of the most popular panels at the Festival of Books, featured Angie Thomas, George M. Johnson and some sharp students from Fairfax High.
Book bans in school libraries, spurred on by legislation pushed by conservatives, rose nearly 30% last semester, according to PEN America.
“We start thinking as librarians, ‘What plans do we have to have in place? Do we need to have extra security?’ ” Coyl said. “These are the things going through our minds now whenever we’re planning a program, not just drag in story time, but anything that could possibly be controversial.”Coyl said the siege of public institutions has forced young people to be politically active in unprecedented ways, in many cases leading the charge against bans.
“I think that adults need to take more notice that kids and young people know a lot more than we give them credit for,” he said. “When they see injustice, they speak up against it. If [a book] speaks to them, they will find it. They also know what they don’t want to read. Like, have you ever tried to get a kid to do something they don’t want to do?”Johnson recalled that as a young Black queer person he never saw himself in any books he read.
Given the impact of books like his, he said bans have only led him to redouble his efforts. “My philosophy has been, ‘Well they can’t ban all the damn books,’ ” said Johnson. “So I keep writing.”nervously asked the panelists if they had any advice on becoming a writer. Thomas advised her to “read as much as you can.” The student then walked up on stage to have her books signed by Thomas and Johnson — a breach of protocol that became a scene of sweet solidarity.
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