By Jayden Presley
For the past five years, cancel culture has been an ongoing trend among social media users. Public figures continue to be ‘canceled’ for social and political reasons or for using language considered offensive.
Sound familiar? Many may recognize this same process for banned books.
Books have been challenged for centuries, not just within U.S. borders. To teach the politics of banned literature, the University of Montevallo will offer an honors course in fall 2023 called “The Banned Book.”
Carey Heatherly, UM’s archivist, will be co-teaching the class with, Anna Mary Williford, the reference and instruction librarian in Carmichael Library.
“A banned book is one that has been taken out of a collection or removed from the people that normally would be able to have access to check it out or read it,” said Williford.
Heatherly jumped in to explain that by the letter of U.S. law, there is no such thing as a banned book because of the First Amendment.
“But, as Anna Mary was saying,” he continued, “there are ‘workarounds’ around that, so that’s what we’re seeing a lot of in Florida and Texas.”
For almost 20 years, Heatherly has maintained school and local history, as well as the Pat Scales Special Collections Room.
“Huckleberry Finn,” “Lord of the Flies,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are all book titles that have been challenged in the U.S. PEN America listed 2,532 books that were banned from July 2021 to June 2022.
“The Banned Book” class will focus on a reading list comparing books challenged then versus now, the reasons why, and the certain themes each book contains that invite a challenge.
“A lot of times when you look back at the trends of like what gets challenged, it pairs up pretty well with whatever’s going on socially at that time,” said Williford.
The class will also discuss solutions to help solve the controversial issue. The reading list will begin with older titles to set the foundation, as well as picture books.
Both Williford and Heatherly are still deciding which books will be used for the class.
“The format is sort of like a book club on steroids,” said Heatherly. “I think it’s important, for art majors especially. I think they can get something out of it, too, because there’s so much artwork involved in children’s books and young adult literature. This would appeal more widely than just English.”
The class will take place in the Pat Scales Room on Tuesdays from 9:30 am to 10:20 am. The room represents Scales’ lifelong commitment to speaking out against censorship. To learn more about Pat Scales, visit the library’s website here.
Heatherly and Williford hope Pat Scales will come as a guest to chat with the students. Scales will be featured in an Amazon Prime documentary called “Judy Blume Forever,” which will be released on April 21. The instructors will incorporate the documentary (and a Judy Blume book) into the class.
“For students to get to know about her [Scales] and her story and the difference she made before it was a thing to be aware of, I think will hopefully be inspiring for them,” said Williford.
The Pat Scales Room is Scales’ collection of materials that have either been banned, challenged or is currently going through the process. Many books are either first edition or signed.
According to Heatherly, publishers will send her material that they anticipate will be challenged and she will review it. There are many special collections all over the country, but Heatherly commended the room’s uniqueness in collecting current works as well as older titles.
UM students can browse the Pat Scales Special Collections Room by appointment. Read here to learn more about the banned books conversation in the media today.
Vallo Vision News 