DO NOT BAN BOOKS-We Need Diversity in our World!

Mrs. Davies stands for diverse literature.

Raneem Hussein

Mrs. Davies stands for diverse literature.

Raneem Hussein and Kayleigh Tennant
October 20, 2022

Recently, there were rallies in Dearborn, Michigan, about the recent book banning in Dearborn Public Schools. This issue is not unique to Dearborn, book banning has been a common conflict in communities all over the country.

What is book banning? When certain books are taken away or not included in school or public libraries. This is because some adults are worried about their children seeing content that they feel their children should not be seeing.

Mrs. Davies, West Librarian, gives her thoughts, “I think that adults worry that kids maybe aren’t aware of things that are happening in the world around them. Adults worry that these books might be on topics that they don’t necessarily agree with. I can understand wanting to have some input on what your own children read. “

Mrs. Davies continues, “Adults also don’t think about the whole community when they push for those bans. One of the things that are so important for any library, like public libraries and academic libraries and especially at a school library, is that we provide access to books that both reflect the culture of our students and also provide windows into other peoples’ culture and other peoples’ experience. I’m really intentional at West and making sure that we have books that students could access.” Our West Middle School library contains diverse books that reflect our student population. Students love the wide variety to pick from.

”So there has been a big increase in the number of challenges at all levels K-12 in school libraries [in regards to book banning]”, Mrs. Davies
adds.

Mrs. Davies wants to create “mirrors & windows” in the West Library. “Mirrors” are books that reflect the students’ cultures. “Windows” are books that allow students to “look into” and learn about a culture different from their own.

Personally, I disagree with book banning. We are all humans and we all have our own personalities and thoughts. We should all respect one another and be able to find books that act as “mirrors” in our library.