In response to the movement to ban books about race and LGBTQ topics from libraries being pushed by Republican lawmakers and conservative parents, independent book publishers banded together to create a counter campaign. They chose to launch it in September, as the month is when the annual Banned Books Week takes place.
Their goal via the We Are Stronger Than Censorship initiative is to raise enough money to purchase at least 2,000 books that have been pulled from library shelves and distribute them to readers across the U.S. To date, the Independent Book Publishers Association has raised nearly $10,000, which will cover 1,244 books.
"We are 62% of the way there!" noted Lee Wind, the chief content officer for the association, which is based in the Southern California city of Manhattan Beach. "This is a marathon not a sprint. Our goal is to pass that 2,000 number and be able to donate lots more books."
Wind, 57, who identifies as both gay and queer, is himself an author who has seen his titles be censored. Among his personal catalog of books he has written, the one that has been banned the most — at five times now — since being published in 2021 is his "No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves" that looked at the queer lives of two dozen historical figures.
"We wanted to acknowledge this is a long-standing problem and push back against it, and put on the brakes to an out-of-control train," said Wind, who lives in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Marina Del Rey.
With the anti-censorship campaign being an inaugural effort this year, Wind told the Bay Area Reporter that he and his colleagues in the association have been pleased with its success so far. It officially debuted September 9 with the unveiling of a dedicated website at wearestrongerthancensorship.org.
"I think people are generally excited there is some way to go on offense about this," he said. "We are not trying to take the spot of the wonderful organizations fighting book bans. We want to add another tool to the toolbox of what we are all doing."
As the B.A.R.'s online Political Notes column first reported last month, the publishers association has been asking people to donate $16 toward the campaign as the amount equals the purchase price for two banned books. People can also order branded merchandise like muscle shirts and sweaters via the website https://www.bonfire.com/store/we-are-stronger-than-censorship/ with the proceeds dedicated toward the anti-censorship campaign.
The initiative needs to raise $16,000 to hit its target of 2,000 books, with the first batch to be mailed out in November to selected groups that will oversee their distribution in their local areas. While the deadline to achieve that goal is August 31 next year, ahead of the launch of the We Are Stronger Than Censorship initiative's second year, Wind told the B.A.R. he expects to surpass the book buying target "before then."
"If book banning stops, maybe we won't need to," said Wind of resetting the initiative's goals in the fall of 2025. "Until it stops, I definitely think it is important for us to be pushing back against the banning in this way."
Purchasing banned books
The association plans to purchase banned books released by 20 different publishers as part of the campaign. It has, so far, selected 12 titles to date, and the list can be seen at wearestrongerthancensorship.org/banned_books-shopping_list.
One of the selected books is "I'll Be the Moon: A Migrant Child's Story" written by Phillip D. Cortez and illustrated by Mafs Rodríguez Alpide. Published in 2023 by The Collective Book Studio, the book is centered on a young girl who must cross the U.S. border from Mexico to reunite with her father.
"We have to walk the walk. One way to do that is by purchasing these books for these organizations who need help," said Angela Engel, a straight ally with a queer daughter who owns the Oakland-based publishing house and is a member of the industry association. "We are also then supporting an ecosystem of independent publishers who can then continue the work we are doing."
The publishers association had partnered with the EveryLibrary Institute for the campaign with the idea of buying two or more books for every book that was banned or challenged in September. Tasslyn Magnusson, Ph.D., has been monitoring book bans across the U.S. for the institute and cataloged 10,000 challenges to books and bans between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. That averages out to more than 830 per month.
"We are trying hard to get a concrete count, but we are looking at hundreds of challenges, restrictions, and removals across the country. This is a conservative guess," stated Magnusson. "What we are seeing that is not quantifiable in numbers, is entire collections of literature for young people being pulled into adult collections in public libraries that will require either parental permission or actual parents to check out literature for their kids."
Thus, there is no definitive count for how many books were banned last month. Part of the problem, said Wind, is there is no central reporting method for people to alert advocates when a book is banned in their community.
People can alert EveryLibrary or email Wind's association at [email protected]
They can also fill out Pen America's form, contact the American Library Association, or share the information with the National Coalition Against Censorship. With various groups collecting the data, it makes counting up the number of banned books in a given month "difficult," noted Wind.
"What we are seeing is if someone wants to report a book being banned or challenged in their community, they are supposed to tell a lot of different places about it. We are trying to figure out a way to centralize it, so it isn't so much work," he said.
Another problem is "softer censorship," said Wind, where even talk of banning books results in a "chilling effect" on librarians and teachers being "afraid to bring books in" to either a library or classroom for fear of being reprimanded or fired.
"A big part of this is the economic injustice of it, too," he said. "This affects people who rely on public access and libraries, whether at schools or public libraries, to see themselves reflected in books and to learn about people who are different from themselves."
There is one easy solution to bring book banning to an end, noted Wind.
"If you don't like a book, just don't read it," he said.
Lawmakers in various states have attempted to put a kibosh on book banning in their states. Illinois enacted a policy that threatens local libraries' state funding if they ban books from their shelves.
Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1825 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) that goes into effect next year. It aims to prevent public libraries from pulling books off their shelves or banning the purchase of titles solely because their subject matter is on LGBTQ topics or race, or "because of the views, ideas, or opinions contained in materials."
It doesn't apply, however, to libraries at public schools. Anti-censorship advocates are hopeful, nonetheless, that the new law will make an impact.
"The alarming increase in censorship across the county is largely coming from so-called parents' rights groups who demand book bans in bulk, often targeting dozens or hundreds of titles at a time. The California Freedom to Read Act's safeguards will require that library book review processes follow the Constitution and not the demands of special interest groups," stated EveryLibrary Executive Director John Chrastka. "Every individual and family in California should be able to make their own decisions about what they want to read."
As for Wind, he told the B.A.R. that the legislation "sounds really good but we'll have to see how and if it is enforced."
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!