Local politicians, authors, and readers alike turned out to the Downtown Mall to visit the Banned Bookmobile on October 18.
Across Virginia, the number of book challenges has risen dramatically in recent years, with several school systems pulling content and local governments, including the Warren County Board of Supervisors, restricting library funding over titles.
In Charlottesville, controversy exploded this summer after an unauthorized recording of Johnson Elementary School students reading ABC Pride by Louie Stowell and Elly Barnes was aired on Fox “Primetime” with Jesse Waters. During the Banned Bookmobile’s stop on the Downtown Mall, event organizers and local leaders spoke about how book challenges most frequently target LGBTQ and Black and brown authors and stories.
“I believe that we all deserve a variety of books,” said Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, author of My Monticello, in a speech in front of the Banned Bookmobile. “Books that reflect part of us back to ourselves like a mirror, and books that let us in on the experiences of other people, who may look or live or love differently than we do, like windows.”
“Book bans are being used not like a shield, but like a weapon. Injuring communities, consolidating power in the hands of a few, and taking away the freedom of countless others to choose for themselves and their children what they would like to read,” Johnson said. “Book banning is part of a larger effort to police whose stories get to matter.”
Started by progressive political action group MoveOn, the Banned Bookmobile was created in response to the popularization of book bans by Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. By handing out commonly challenged books and sharing stories of their impact, MoveOn hopes to increase awareness of censorship efforts and access to controversial literature.
“Charlottesville is in a really key location, both for a lot of the local elections and also for the state election,” said Mana Kharrazi, rapid response campaign director at MoveOn. “We’ve had a great experience with the folks here in the community and the leaders and those who are candidates coming out and just all universally being in support of books and the freedom to read and the freedom to learn.”
Despite limited local appetite for bans, upcoming legislative and local elections could determine the viability of future book challenges.
Currently running unopposed for the 54th District House of Delegates seat, Katrina Callsen, who spoke at the Banned Bookmobile event, shared her pride in Charlottesville’s widespread support for protecting access to books and knowledge. Though she did encounter some calls for censorship while serving on the Albemarle County School Board, Callsen says, “I think we have a really great slate of elected leaders and candidates that have made it so that [book bans are] not really a big issue in our community.”
Other local candidates shared their concerns about censorship. “I think banning books denies kids part of our human experience,” says Allison Spillman, candidate for the Albemarle County School Board at-large seat. “I think that it’s the mission of our public schools to teach all kids from all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all identities, and they need to see themselves in the materials that they’re reading.”
Spillman’s opponent Meg Bryce emphasized her own opposition to book banning in a message to C-VILLE. “We shouldn’t shield students from ‘thorny subjects,’” she wrote. “They should read about a time when racism was tolerated, precisely so that they may recognize the evil and how many people were complicit in it. There may be reasons that a parent has a concern over a particular book for their child, in which case they may contact the school to request an alternative. Current ACPS policy allows for this, and I am comfortable with the existing policy.”
In the 55th District House of Delegates race, candidates Amy Laufer and Steve Harvey hold distinct views on book banning.
“We know that this extreme agenda is trying to erase history and give us a narrow view of life,” says Laufer, who attended the October 18 event. “As everyone keeps saying, ‘Let stories be told and heard.’ And this is the only way to build community, hearing other people’s perspectives.”
Though opposed to book banning, Harvey does support “the curation of books for elementary schools.”
“I believe there should be transparent and judicious processes for determining which books are appropriate for the various age groups,” he wrote in a statement to C-VILLE. “Parents, teachers, librarians, and the School Board should be involved in the curation process.”
Beyond offering an opportunity for candidates to share their platforms and concerns about censorship, the Banned Bookmobile’s visit gave young readers an opportunity to pick up some new materials.
“I just really wanted to come, too,” says Lennox, a local elementary schooler who attended the event with her mom and younger brother. “I just really love reading books.”