In the history of the world, no society that has banned books has ended up on the right side of history. In our increasingly polarized society, the U.S. has seen an unprecedented surge in book bans across the nation. And more than 50% of these books center around LGBTQ experiences and those of BIPOC. This is nothing new, of course. Acclaimed black authors such as Richard Wright and Toni Morrison have consistently been censored because of their unfiltered accounts of racism and white supremacy in our nation and thus, supposedly, "instigate hatred between the races."
When books are banned or censored, either by law or by silent consent, human experiences are likewise banned. Our faith bids us embrace the diversity of God's creation, to celebrate it and uplift it, a well as to hold space for lamentation and suffering so that we may, as a church, partake in the work of justice. When a child (or adult) reads of experiences in a book or graphic novel related to their own, they are assured that they are not alone. When a parent studies literature of the same experience, they are thus better informed to guide and encourage their child. There is no rational or moral justification for the censorship of the human experience, even and especially for those that make us uncomfortable.
Our library is a collection of such books. Of our collection, only 50 are on an official "banned list." The majority of the books deal with topics and experiences that are not so much formally banned as they are hidden and generally unavailable unless one of us knows what to look for, be it a graphic novel dealing with the topic of suicide or a collection of poetry speaking to a black queer identity and experience.
This library is only made possible by your donations. If you would like to purchase or donate a book for our library, please refer to our wish list: Link to book list here