The celebration:
“Rock the Phoebe’s” joyful acknowledgement of the century and a quarter anniversary of the founding of Old Lyme’s Phoebe Griffin Noyes (PGN) Library in 1898 was scheduled for the evening of June 23.
The funny things:
A letter, signed by 23 members of the Greater Old Lyme community was sent to the library on May 25. This was then followed by another letter on June 16, which was signed by 135.
The letters questioned the suitability of two titles available in the library’s “Teens & Tweens” section and called for the removal of Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human, by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan and You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty and Other Things, by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth from that section. Perhaps even more startling they also requested a “… proper review of the materials in the ‘Teen-Tween’ room in hopes that no other content like this is available in that space.”
Nevertheless, “Rock the Phoebe” went on as planned; and a few days later, more than 400 Old Lyme and Lyme residents responded formally in a letter opposing the actions proposed in the two earlier letters.
This “View” is not about the two ‘offending’ titles; and I am not going to present a play-by-play of the situation as it developed and was finally resolved without removal or relocation of the two books — that has all been exhaustively covered in the regional and national print and broadcast media.
I will not weigh in on the arguments regarding whether these actions represent a ban on the two books, or whether either book was “unbecoming of our community values”.
Rather, I will explore these actions in a broader context to get a feel of how unique the Old Lyme experience was, but first, I will return to the era of the “founding”.
The Free Library Movement:
This movement really began in the 1840s when New Hampshire, followed by Massachusetts, and then Maine; authorized towns to levy taxes for the establishment and support of public libraries. The movement spread and continued through much of the second half of the 19th and early-20th centuries.
The designation “free” means open to the public at no charge and was used to provide a distinction from the subscription libraries that were common in many communities at that time.
The movement was advanced by the philanthropy of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, whose support between 1883 and 1929 led to the construction of a system of 1,689 public libraries across the United States. These include 11 in Connecticut, but none in southeast Connecticut.
Local Activism:
Old Lyme has been blessed with an activist cleric, who is a strong advocate for social justice. The Rev. Steven R. Jungkeit, senior minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL), has publicly stated his concerns regarding guns, book bans, and systemic racism. Apparently, a few are uncomfortable with such advocacy, especially when it came from the pulpit.
I was particularly troubled by an aggressive response to one of his sermons by a local political party leader, published at the end of March in another online source of community news. In my opinion, the language used in the response was insulting and almost threatening.
Is Old Lyme unique?
Yes, of course … but not in terms of book challenges.
Some candid observations of the broader environment:
- PEN America, the nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression, identified nearly 1,477 incidents of books being prohibited during the first half of the 2022-23 academic year, up 28.5 percent from 1,149 cases in the previous semester. Overall, the organization has recorded more than 4,000 such incidents of banned books in the United States since it started tracking cases in July 2021. Such incidents are most prevalent in five states: — Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina.
- The Connecticut Library Association has identified 38 active book challenges across the state, including Newtown, Westport, Darien, Brookfield, Fairfield, and Guilford; up from about nine at this time last year.
- In Guilford, some residents called for parental notification for books they regarded as “vulgar and inappropriate”. Perhaps that could be called the “I’m telling on you” program? (Note: that is my own suggestion, not Guilford Memorial Library’s.)
- Fairfield Library’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to not remove “Let’s Talk About It,” from its shelves last October, with staff stating, “The book belongs exactly where it is.”
- Old Lyme PGN Library Director Katie Huffman has reported that the two contested titles were the third and fourth books challenged at the library in the last two years, with no books removed so far.
- PEN America also found that book challenges are not new, but the tactics are changing. Once provoked primarily by concerned parents, challenges are increasingly driven by organized groups, elected leaders and legislation targeting titles that “don’t align with their own values”.
- Of the national groups, Moms for Liberty (M4L), formed in Florida in 2021, has become widespread and militant. The group began by campaigning against COVID-19 protections, including masks and vaccines. Moms for Liberty advocates against school curricula that mention LGBTQ rights, Critical Race Theory, ethnicity, and/or discrimination. Many chapters have also campaigned to ban books that address gender and sexuality.
The Southern Poverty Law Center characterized M4L as a far-right, extremist organization with close ties to the Republican Party rather than a genuine grassroots organization. Two chapters of this group are active in Connecticut. Is that really possible? At the very least, I will quote from the oft-banned book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice says, “Curiouser and curiouser.” - Aaron Sorkin’s new stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (which is based on the also frequently banned book of the same name) begins with Scout Finch telling the audience, ““Something didn’t make sense,” which, in retrospect, I could have used to introduce this “View.”
- Avra Montazella, a senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School, founded the Banned Books Club during her freshman year when she saw many books she loved being censored across the country.
- Since 1982, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week has been held in the fall as an annual awareness campaign to celebrate the freedom to read and stress the importance of ensuring access, even to unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints. The week is now co-sponsored by a coalition of organizations dedicated to free expression.
For 15 minutes of fame?
Our library has an established process for initiating a challenge to materials in its collection. It is simple and begins by filing a Request for Reconsideration … but of course, this process does not generate the media coverage or produce the angst that occurred here.
The library’s collection development policies and reconsideration procedures can be accessed via the following link: Collection-Development-Policy-2022.pdf (oldlymelibrary.org)
Note that the “Sources” section below includes everything I reviewed in preparing this piece and, if interested in the underlying journalism, please refer to the sources that I have cited, which are readily available online.
Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.
About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.
Author’s Notes: I wholly support a parent’s right to oversee their ‘teen’s & tween’s’ book selections, but feel strongly that they do not have the right to make those decisions for other parents. My advice — based on personal experience — would be to talk with your children and endeavor to create an environment in which they are comfortable approaching you for advice or feedback on any number of issues.
‘The Day’s’ editorial board stated last month that, ”… while the letters contend the request to remove these books from the teen-tween section of the library does not constitute book banning, it is obvious that is exactly what is being advocated here.”
In closing, perhaps I can add some lighter perspective to this difficult subject by recalling the wisdom of Detective Sergeant Nick Yemana of NYPD’s 12th Precinct, who once told Captain Bernard “Barney” Miller, Commanding Officer of the detectives’ squad, that (sic) “What you gotta do is develop an Oriental philosophy. My grandfather used to say that many things look bleak at the moment of occurrence; but at least we ain’t got locusts.”
Sources:
Barnett, S. “’Mama bears’ may be the 2024 race’s soccer moms; some see extremism as GOP seeks votes”. The Day. 07/23/2023.
Brownstein, R. “The Book Bans Debate Has Finally Reached a Turning Point”. The Atlantic. 05/10/2023.
Chavez, N. “About a third of book bans reported in fall 2022 were a result of new state laws, free speech group says” CNN. 04/20/2023.
Chen, J. “Two adolescent sex-ed books challenged at Old Lyme library”. NBC-CT. 06/27/2023.
Dunne, S. “Old Lyme library facing calls to ban two sex-ed books from teen section”. Hartford Courant. 06/28/2023
Dunne, S. “More than 400 residents of a small CT town oppose sex-ed book ban attempt”. Hartford Courant. 08/07/2023
Editorial Board. “Let parents pick their kids’ books”. The Day. 07/11/2023.
Fitzgerald, W. “Op-ed: Book Banning Is About More Than Book Banning”. LymeLine. 07/03/2023
Gregorian, V. “Remembering Andrew Carnegie’s Legacy”. American Libraries Magazine.09/30/2019.
Fleishman, J. “School librarians vilified as the ‘arm of Satan’ in book-banning wars”. L.A. Times. 01/27/2023.
Friedman, J. & Farid-Johnson, N. “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools”. PEN America.09/19/2022.
Harkay, J. “Newtown is weighing a book ban. It’s not the only CT town to do so”. CT Mirror. 06/01/2023
Jungkeit, S.R., Fitzpatrick-Nager, L., & Gerber. C. “Opinion: The banning of books – all books – is wrong”. Hartford Courant. 08/03/2023
LaBella, J. “Fairfield Library decides to not remove controversial book”. Fairfield Citizen. 10/12/2022.
Littlefield, “The Real Agenda of Moms for Liberty”. The Nation. 08/07/2023.
Logan, O. “More Than 400 Sign Letter Supporting Old Lyme Library, Urging Rejection of Censorship Requests ‘In Their Entirety’”. LymeLine.com 06/29/1023
Mazariegos, M. “In a record year for book ban attempts, ALA says these 10 books were challenged most”. NPR. 04/04/2022
Mongkol, C. “Old Lyme residents challenge two sex education books in library over sexual content”. NH Register. 06/28/2023.
Logan, O. “Old Lyme Library Board Issues New Statement Answering Additional Questions Related to Recent Book Challenges”. LymeLine.com 07/27/2023.
Nixon, R.A. “Sermonizing a ‘Complete Misrepresentation of the Facts’ in Old Lyme” CT Examiner. 03/31/2023.
Perreault, E. “Old Lyme library votes against banning sex education books after community backlash”. WTNH. 07/12/2023
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Putterman, A. “The national book banning debate has come to CT: ‘It’s kind of tearing the community apart’”. CTInsider. 05/30/2023.
Regan, E. “Containing multitudes: minister, social justice activist, Marx scholar shakes things up in Old Lyme. The Day. 05/15/2021.
Regan, E. “National culture war blows through Old Lyme’s town center”.The Day. 07/29/2023
Regan, E. “Old Lyme ‘kerfuffle’ over sex education book spills into Lyme”. The Day. 07/28/2023.
Shadmi, K. “Sketchbook/ Reality Hurts”. The NYT Book Review. 08/13/2023.
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Sims, D. “A New Way of Looking at ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’”. The Atlantic. 12/2019.
Torres, L. C. “Old Lyme library will keep two sex-education books in the teen section”. CT Public Radio. 07/11/202