There are secrets out there

 There are secrets out there

 

You might have heard of teachers sneaking a smoke outside.   Or perhaps, taking a sick day because there is an early concert that they don’t want to miss.  But have you heard of teachers hiding books so students CAN read them?  That is what’s happening in multiple classrooms in multiple states where school districts are banning books with certain subjects.  It’s even happening in bright blue Maryland.

Here is how it works.  School districts are banning books written by Black authors, written about the struggle for equality, advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, books about the LBGTQ community and books written either by or sympathetic to that community.  

The school districts doing banning reading materials are mostly very predominately White.  Which makes it all the more important for marginalized communities to be able to access books that speak to their personal experiences.   It is also true that while the suicide rate is rising among all teens, it is rising much more quickly among African-American and LBGTQ kids.   These youngsters feel like the “other”.  They do not fit in.  Who would care if they were gone.

Books speak to those struggles and show kids that there is a way forward and that they are not alone.  A number of teachers in communities that have banned books are establishing underground secret libraries where students can borrow books on the banned book list.  Yep, does remind you of another underground adventure.

Of course, anything that is banned by adults automatically becomes interesting to any teen.  The good news about that is it is wonderful if students from the majority community read some of these banned books too because then they, too, might gain an understanding of the marginalized communities.

Teachers with these secret libraries are building them from the books that have been removed from classrooms as well as purchasing them with their own funds and contributions from others.  Secret library books are not displayed on shelves with their covers facing out to attract readers.  They are instead packed away in boxes at the back of classrooms or in closets. Student volunteers sort and organize the selections and run the sign-out process.

Perhaps the book banning has had an unintended consequence.  More kids want to read the banned books, in both the majority and minority communities.  After all, who doesn’t want to read what you aren’t allowed to read.