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Boston Globe

Censorship harms those we should be trying to protect

Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up According to Advertisement Book bans also frequently target books with LGBTQ+ characters, according to Pen America. Advertisement Pen America also states that books that depict rape or sexual violence were banned in a quarter of the more than 3,000 books targeted from June 2022 to July 2023. Silencing stories of rape and sexual violence silences survivors of rape and sexual violence. Banning books by and about the survival of rape and sexual assault perpetuates harm on those who have suffered the most. Authors can find power in telling their stories, factually or through fiction. Readers can find solace and community in these same stories. We are harming them by removing their stories from libraries. The My question is: Who are we protecting? If not our LGBTQIA teens, our BIPOC children, our public library staff, our school librarians, our children's book authors, our survivors of sexual assault, then who? And why? The bills that have been put forward do not mandate that any child, adolescent, student, or parent be required to read any book. The bills don't mandate libraries purchase any book or type of book. They don't require that authors and illustrators write or draw or create any specific book or type of book. In fact, they make clear that reconsideration requests made by those with a vested interest in the public library or school library can still continue. And library staff will be protected by not just the Advertisement Let Rhode Island continue to grow and change in the direction of Nicole P. Dyszlewski is one of the leaders of the Rhode Island Freedom to Read Coalition, and a professor and assistant dean at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, R.I.