Tag: books

(This is about Banned Books Week. In Hays, KS. Basically.)

https://codes.findlaw.com/ks/chapter-21-crimes-and-punishments/ks-st-sect-21-6402/

There’s a law on the books–no pun intended–stating that “(a) No person having custody, control or supervision of any commercial establishment shall knowingly:

(1) Display any material which is harmful to minors in such a way that minors, as a part of the invited general public, will be exposed to view such material or device;

(2) present or distribute to a minor… any material which is harmful to minors…”

And within it are the following provisions:

“it shall be an affirmative defense to any prosecution under this section that:
(1) The allegedly harmful material or device was purchased, leased or otherwise acquired by a public, private or parochial school, college or university, and that such material or device was either sold, leased, distributed or disseminated by a teacher, instructor, professor or other faculty member or administrator of such school as part of or incident to an approved course or program of instruction at such school;

(2) the defendant is an officer, director, trustee or employee of a public library and the allegedly harmful material or device was acquired by a public library and was disseminated in accordance with regular library policies approved by its governing body;”

Now, what does that mean?

It does not mean what the group attacking me believes it means.

It means that no individual and no business will make porn available or distribute harmful material to minors; however, in the context of schools and libraries, parents are in charge and libraries/librarians will not be punished for shelving books in their collections in a way that people can freely find them. What one family considers “harmful” another may not (like an art book or Cosmo), and since (public) schools and libraries are government and only help families by providing services to children directly and indirectly by way of their adult caregivers, these agencies cannot directly police the viewing of all materials by all the children who pass through their buildings.

The library (school or public) buys materials according to their collection development policies (which do not allow for the purchase of pornography at all, by the way). Hays Public Library, along with most libraries, does not even allow children to have cards without their parents’ permission, and many libraries allow parents to have access to checkout history of those children’s cards like this library does. Library policies are public documents and are available publicly, typically on the website, but otherwise just by asking. School librarians are teachers first, and they follow school policies, which are specifically provided to parents at enrollment, and those policies and the teachers are otherwise available to parents by asking. Parents are connected to and expected to engage with their child(ren)’s schooling, including what they read. Children are mostly expected to take their school library books home.

The public library’s collections are available to everyone who walks in the door. Children’s cards are not restricted because it’s their parents’ job to monitor their children’s information consumption, not the library’s. School libraries contain information that is well reviewed and/or requested to support the curriculum of the school. Teachers request books that they need for their lessons. School librarians buy age-appropriate books that kids will probably like to read. All libraries have formal and informal processes by which individuals may challenge the merit and request the removal of any title in the library. (Attempting to publicly shame or intimidate library directors, library staff, board members, or former staff is not part of that process.)

Hays Public Library will allow unattended children to stay in the building if they are at least nine years old and otherwise demonstrate they understand behavior expectations in public. This should not be seen as a request for parents to drop their kids off at the library on the day after their 9th birthday. Kansas has no minimum age at which the state “approves” of your leaving your children at home without a parent. That doesn’t mean the state believes it is appropriate for you to leave your newborn alone in their crib while you are at the store.

Parents/guardians are the deciders of what each child should read. What may be appropriate for one 12-yr-old may not be appropriate for your 12-yr-old. What may be appropriate for your 12-yr-old may not be good for my 12-yr-old. Children mature at different rates. Families have different values. Parents are in charge of their children at the library. Parents are in charge of their children’s education.

Since this kerfuffle began in our community last week, no fewer than three women have told the public or myself privately that bad things were happening in their home when they were young. They didn’t know they were bad because the person hurting them was someone who was supposed to love them. They had to seek outside help. In some cases, not all, those “helpers” were the books they found that told them this wasn’t normal.

In fact, on the banned book list are an enormous number of books that feature graphic descriptions of sexual assault as a component of a child or teenager’s life. Maya Angelou’s first biography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings details her childhood assault(s), her years of silence, and her recovery and first words spoken afterward. The Kite Runner is a coming-of-age title that follows a young Muslim man through his life in Afghanistan and details his rape in an alley by a gang of uber-conservative men of his faith. There’s a Netflix series based on the book 13 Reasons Why, challenged often because it deals with a teenage girl completing suicide after being raped by a classmate. These brave authors, especially those who share their own life stories, give us the words and hope we need sometimes to keep going.

I’ve seen people see themselves in a book after years of feeling invisible. I’ve seen people find recovery from their failures by finding the right stories. I’ve seen children melt in love for their parents while they were reading a book together. I’ve seen teens come alive telling me about the series their mom brought them home to read (and can they have the next one please?) I found the courage to face my fears in a book that took me six months to finish. I’ve seen people find God at the library.

And all of this, all these finds–none were shelved where I could have possibly predicted.

So what would happen if we were to move all these books somewhere not meant for children and teenagers to find them? I honestly don’t know. The librarians in my town didn’t prevent me from checking out any books, ever, but they sure did frown at me when most of my titles were by Dean Koontz or some other (very) adult author. Not all kids are as brazen as I was though, or as seriously obsessed with making sure I had at least five books to read every week. So I bet that these very important books would … just stop circulating. And that would be very sad and would do no one any good at all. Books for children and teens contain experiences that happen to children and teens, and it is appropriate that some of those stories make us furious or sad or uncomfortable because dealing with being furious or sad or uncomfortable is also part of how we learn to become adults who can function in the world. I’m sure most kids want to talk to their parents about what they’re reading, and I know that the kids will continue to surprise us with all that they’ve learned.

The greatest gift my mother ever gave me was the unwavering freedom to read.

No book ever hurt me. Plenty of people have, and the books had lain a path for me to find my way out.

Every book its reader; every reader their book.

P.S. This is a statement by me, Meagan Zampieri-Lillpopp, and it does not represent an official statement by the Hays Public Library, the school district, or my employer. I am running for another school board term, though, and election day is November 4, 2025. Please vote for the future you want.