Mike Mullin, author of Ashfall, is a passionate warrior against censorship. His breakout session started with roll playing exercise where we acted as a librarian or patron with a special background. The patrons and librarians interacted based on their assigned persona in an attempt to get library materials. I was a teenager who had lost a brother to suicide, but I couldn't discuss it outright and I had to find books that I would like and that may help me process that loss. Some patrons were "concerned citizens" trying to actively or surreptitiously get books removed from the collection. It was a bit awkward in the beginning, play acting with total strangers, but after a couple of minutes, we really started to get into our rolls. In the end, we were asked to record how many books we chose or loaned out, based on our rolls.
Then, Mike and his mother Shirley (owner of Kids Ink Bookstore in Indianapolis) gave us a rundown of some popular titles that are considered controversial and discussed why we should have them in our library. Mike asked us about our experiences in the role-playing exercise and related them to the titles he discussed, including a picture book about a transgendered child called, I Am Jazz. Shirley related the story of one of her employees questioning the importance of stocking a book on such a controversial subject when another employee interjected that she was sending the information on this book to a friend from church who had a transgendered child.
Mike finished up with what he calls the "Interpretive Dance" where he discussed some sobering statistics about what children in the United States that are faced with. He asked 20 of us to stand up front with a colored card. He would call out a color and those of us with that color would step forward and he would read a statistic. For example, "2 (among 12-17 year-olds) are active, current users of illegal drugs," or, "2 girls and 1 boy will be sexually molested before they turn 18." The statistics addressed everything from food instabillity to suicide. As we stepped out and stepped back, our dance was a physical representation of what our kids are facing. What we learned was that the books we may be reluctant to provide for our patrons may be exactly what they need to read to feel less alone, or stronger in the face of adversity. As a matter of fact, according to Mike's research, "7 (among 15-year-olds) don’t think they can talk to their parents."
Here is how he concluded the Interpretive Dance:
"According to UNICEF, the U.S. is the second worst country to grow up in in the industrialized world. The only worse country is Great Britain.
These problems cut
across all social, economic, and geographic lines. I’ve just described kids who
use your library. Kids you know."
The statistics Mike used come from Unicef for the most part. He was kind enough to send me the link when I emailed him a couple days after the conference. This session really hit home with me and I've been thinking about it ever since. In the past, I was worried about providing materials to children that they weren't ready for it. Now, I'm wondering if not providing them with access to "controversial" material may do more harm than good. I've never been a censor per se, but I do worry that maybe I haven't been as open to what my patrons need because I'm afraid of some sort of backlash. This session was seriously thought-provoking.
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