“Banned Books Week” Aims To Subvert Tennessee Laws Protecting Kids From Sexually Explicit Reading Materials

Image Credit: Banned Books Week / Facebook & Canva

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

September 28^th was the final day of an annual event titled Banned Books Week, which aimed to highlight the “value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.”  Namely, to promote books that have been removed from school and public libraries under laws that require sexually explicit and overly violent content to become inaccessible to children.

Tennessee’s version of this law went into effect earlier in the year and requires that library collections be suitable for the age and maturity of students who can access them. It also mandates that a list of all materials in a school library must be maintained and posted to the school’s website, and school governing bodies must adopt policies for reviewing the collections. 

Launched in 1982 and supported by a coalition of organizations including the American Library Association and Penguin Random House publishing, Banned Books Week has its own website, schedule of events, and a list of the top ten most challenged books across the nation for the past year. Along with books featuring sexually explicit material, many of the books on the top ten list are focused on LGBT+ subject matter and ideology with titles like Gender Queer and This Book is Gay. 

Little Free Libraries, another Banned Books Week partner, has 1,369 locations in Tennessee alone and has launched an interactive map displaying all little library locations across the country, overlaid with the number of book ban attempts in each state.

According to Little Free Libraries Executive Director Greig Meitzer, the library network perfectly reflects the ideals and goals of Banned Books Week as, “the fight to protect free literary access is a fundamental First Amendment issue.” 

Leigh Singleton, a Nashville resident known in her neighborhood for her annual “Parlor of Peril” haunted house each year where she dresses as an alter ego and reads palms, has spent 12 years curating the little library on her block. It is permanently called a Little Free Haunted Library and “boasts ghosts and ghouls year-round.”

She believes, “It’s so important for people to be able to read what’s out there, and not have other people telling them what is appropriate and what is not appropriate other than your parents. It’s frightening when you see people start banning books in schools and libraries, or even attempting to.”

The Nashville public library has even leveraged this pushback effort into a marketing campaign by offering library cards that say, “I read banned books.” It began as a temporary effort, but with over 4,200 participants has now become a permanent offering. 

Jennifer Edwards, a resident of Murfreesboro advocating for teens to have access to titles like Beloved, a story about sexual violence and American slavery, says “to restrict literary genius…doesn’t make sense to me.” 

Other advocates opposed to “book banning” have raised seemingly illogical questions regarding specific definitions in the law, for example, if books with nude statues are considered “explicit” or how much violence is “excess” and claim they will continue to fight Tennessee restriction laws and bans up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.