October 5, 2023
from Bill Hudson, head of school
On two occasions last weekend, I had the pleasure of showing our new Martin Lenz Harrison Library to alums who had not been in the building since graduation. Two members of the Class of 1994 were in town for their class reunion and came to school Saturday to help celebrate Homecoming. Several others attended Friday night’s first annual Athletic Hall of Fame dinner. All were in awe of the warm and beautiful library, which opened in January 2020 in the space that was previously our cafeteria and kitchen.
A few alums shared how glad they were that we still prioritized books. During the design phase, I remember being urged to drastically cut back on the number of books and the space dedicated to housing them. I’m glad we let our mission guide our choices—we created a library centered on books that is welcoming, safe, and comfortable. There are 20,993 books in our collection, intentionally curated and culled to represent different genres and perspectives. With fiction and nonfiction books appealing to different ages, the collection is intended to support academic research and encourage reading as a lifelong pleasure. In the first month of school, students checked out 2,212 books, and we had 80 whole class visits to the library across all grades and divisions.
Several alums noted our celebration of Banned Books Week and the displays of books throughout the library that public libraries and schools have banned. They were proud of their alma mater for still valuing intellectual freedom, independent thought, academic rigor, and open discourse.
Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of books banned in public schools and libraries. According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, between January 1 and August 31, 2023, there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and services and documented challenges to 1,915 unique titles, a 20% increase from the same reporting period in 2022, which saw the highest number of book challenges since the ALA began compiling the data more than 20 years ago. The vast majority of challenges were to books written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The American Library Association’s 1939 Library Bill of Rights defends the right of all people to access libraries that contain “all points of view on current and historical issues” regardless of the “origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” Choices about what books should be included in libraries and taught in classrooms have become hot-button issues in schools and communities nationwide. The social and religious views of select community members often fuel such decisions.
Censorship is both a complicated and simple issue that touches on First Amendment rights, intellectual freedom, and free speech. Some situations violate the First Amendment, such as the government telling a bookstore not to sell a particular book. “But public institutions can’t be expected to carry every book. And just because a book is removed from the curriculum or the public school library doesn’t mean it’s ‘banned’ as we usually understand that term,” said First Amendment scholar, MPA trustee, and parent Anthony Sanders. However, when it comes to creating a culture of free speech, it’s much more straightforward. Anthony shares, “A culture of free speech is where we accept a wide variety of viewpoints, learn to respect each other, and don’t stifle independent thought and create a culture where kids don’t want to question orthodoxy—whether that’s today’s ‘wokeness’ or a more old fashioned, conservative, reactionary standpoint.”
As Head of School, I am proud to celebrate Banned Books Week and to champion our values of intellectual freedom, the pursuit of knowledge, commitment to equity and inclusion, and open discourse. Our new librarian, Stephanie Kollm, told me she is “thrilled to be at a school that embraces Banned Books Week and the freedom to read. She shared, “At my previous school, we were told that we could not put up Banned Books displays, and it brings me such joy to be able to talk with students about why it is so important to keep people’s authentic and diverse stories on the shelves.”
At MPA, we encourage the debate of ideas but never debate a person’s identity. Banning books does the opposite, allowing for the debate of identity and quashing the debate of ideas. “Banning books,” says Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School director, “is like banning the stories of people and their life—no one’s life should be banned, and similarly, neither should a story, knowledge, or representation of what it means to be human in this complex world.” Rather than erase the history and lived experience of others, books, though sometimes challenging, open our eyes and connect us. In the words of George M. Johnson, author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto,” “Sometimes we feel a certain way, but we can’t express how we feel until we read somebody else going through a similar thing, and then it allows us to say, ‘This is exactly how I felt.’ One of the ways we as a society gain empathy is through learning other people’s stories from their own eyes.”
At the same time, not all books are appropriate for all readers. MPA teachers and librarians converse with readers about what they might expect from the book and are encouraged to discuss the books with their grownups at home. Students are encouraged to know their comfort level with heavy or mature content. In the classrooms, books are chosen carefully within exceptional pedagogy and by experienced, compassionate teachers. If a teacher decides to teach a book that presents what some would consider controversial or challenging, they will do so with advanced preparation, shared agreements in the classroom, and the same professional judgment that is present in all their teaching.
With that in mind, I think the best way to celebrate Banned Books Week is to champion a wide variety of books and brag that our library has them—even illiberal books that argue against this culture. I think a display by a library with Kendi X’s “Stamped,” “Huckleberry Finn,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Heather Has Two Mommies,” “Das Kapital,” “Atlas Shrugged,” and “Mere Christianity”—with the message that the library carries all of them and kids are welcome to read all of them—would be a perfect way to celebrate. Please know that you are welcome to visit the Martin Lenz Harrison Library to view the display of books that are considered banned. You may even want to check one out! Please know you are welcome.
