VOA新闻杂志2023--Texas Town Considers Closing Library to Ban Some Books

Texas Town Considers Closing Library to Ban Some Books

The American Library Association (ALA) reported in March that attempts to ban books in libraries and schools in the United States set a record last year.

The group said there were 1,269 attempts to "censor¹ library books and resources in 2022." That is almost double the number of attempts from the year before. And it is the highest number reached in more than 20 years.

The ALA reported that a record 2,571 books were targeted. The large majority of those books were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color, the report says.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone is head of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. She said, "The choice of what to read must be left to the reader or, in the case of children, to parents. That choice does not belong to self-appointed book police."

But conservative lawmakers and supporters say they want to ban some books to protect children from harmful materials.

A new law in the midwestern state of Missouri has resulted in several books being removed from libraries. In the state of Florida, lawmakers recently passed three new laws related to controlling reading material.

In the northwestern state of Idaho, Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation that would ban public libraries from holding material judged harmful to minors².

And one town in the state of Texas is considering going a step further — closing the public library.

'A book's never hurt anybody'

Llano is a rural town 120 kilometers from Austin, the state capital. There, officials proposed closing the library system after a federal judge ruled against the local lawmakers' decision to remove some books.

"A book's never hurt anybody," said J.R. Decker, who noted³ that his family has lived in Llano for generations. "My government's telling me the only thing they can protect my child from is books. They should be worried about gun violence and school safety."

Decker was among the people who protested at a recent meeting regarding the attempt to close the library.

Among those who spoke⁴ was Suzette Baker⁵, a former Llano County librarian who says she was fired after refusing to remove some books.

"I would like to know how the 'History of the KKK' is pornographic? 'How to be an Anti-Racist,' how is that pornographic? It's not," Baker said at the hearing.

"This is not about taking away rights. This is not a communist nation. This is not a Nazi⁷ nation. You do not get to pick our reading material, it is ours."

Book-ban supporter Rhonda Schneider defended the effort. She listed a number of books in the Llano library that she said contain graphic⁶ sexuality.

"It is not a safe space for kids," Schneider argued.

Emmett McPherson did not get called to speak at the hearing. But he said he agreed that the library's books are unsafe for children. "I am willing to close the whole library to keep them out of my children's hands," he said.

Shirley Robinson leads the Texas Library Association. She said while some of the books cited at the meeting may be objectionable to some, they are not pornographic.

"So first of all, there is a legal definition of pornography," said Robinson. "And there are never any materials in any library — school, public or academic — that would meet that legal definition of pornography."

Texas book ban efforts

Robinson said attempts to ban some books in Texas began in 2021. A lawmaker contacted libraries asking if they had any books among a list of nearly 850 titles. Many of the titles were LGBTQ-related or were written by or about people of color, she added.

Robinson said there are 40 proposed bills relating to libraries in the state legislature at the moment. Some of the bills open the possibility of criminal charges against librarians.

"Librarians are leaving the profession because there is this threat of potential criminal prosecution⁸ or just harassment⁹ within their communities," Robinson said.

One librarian who quit is Lee Glover, who was an elementary school librarian in the Houston, Texas, area.

She said there was a process in place to follow before she could put a book into the library. "But now they want me to have parents come and review them before I order them?"

The students are the losers in the book-banning battle, Glover added. "We are the lifeline for so many kids."

For now, the Llano County library system remains¹⁰ open. At its recent meeting, county leaders voted to delay the decision while they appeal the federal order to return the books to the local library. That decision is expected in autumn.

Words in This Story

censor - v. to examine books, movies, etc... in order to remove things considered harmful, offensive or immoral¹¹

pornographic - adj. showing or describing naked people or sex in the open

graphic - adj. show or describe in a very clear way

title - n. the name give to something like a book or movie

potential - adj. capable of becoming real, possible

prosecution - n. the act or process of holding atrial against a person accused of a crime to see if that person is guilty

harassment - n. the act of annoying someone repeatedly

review - v. to study and examine something again

1 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

2 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。