The biggest threat to the odious practice of book-banning has always been simple human ingenuity. When Alexander Solzhenitsyn began compiling his experiences—into what later became the Gulag Archipelago, his landmark indictment of the sprawling Soviet labor camp system—he was still a prisoner in that system. To escape detection, he would write those experiences down, scribbling on small scraps of paper, then memorizing the words he’d written, and burn the scraps afterward. This mechanism enabled him to preserve and retain his thoughts in the face of an oppressive regime, terrifying in its ubiquity and efficiency.
Banned in the Soviet Union, his work was initially published clandestinely and passed along to furtive readers—literally one copy at a time—in unbound form, even as it was hailed internationally as a masterpiece. Still, it remained widely unpublished in the Soviet Union until 1989.
America’s modern book-banning aficionados are neither as ubiquitous nor efficient as the KGB, but Republican lawmakers in Florida are apparently intent on indoctrinating an entire generation of young people. By proscribing the availability of certain books that highlight racism and advocate tolerance of sexual identity throughout the state, they have opted for a shotgun approach that places the onus on beleaguered public schools to fulfill their edicts. This serves the dual purpose of imposing their questionable notions of morality on young students while burdening a public school system they clearly despise with pointless, wasteful, and time-consuming busywork.
Still, at least one bookshop has found a satisfying way to turn the tables on the opportunistic Republican legislators who thrive on this censorship and intolerance. As reported by Lori Rozsa for The Washington Post, Firestorm Books—a self-described “little anarchist’s bookshop” in Asheville, North Carolina—was able to get its hands on over 22,000 books that were rejected under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 “parental rights” law. The best part? A great many of those books have been sent right back to eager young Florida readers.
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As Rozsa reports:
As Florida becomes ground zero in the push to remove books that touch on racism and LGBTQ+ people from public schools, more titles are ending up pulled from shelves and stuck in warehouses. But the tale of the banned books from Duval County is unusual for how it ends: Firestorm Books not only took in the rejected children’s stories, but is now sending them to anyone who requests them. Many of the books are heading back to Florida.
Rozsa writes that Duval County, which serves over 128,000 students, originally ordered 180 titles from Perfection Learning, which had included them in their “Essential Voices” collection to distribute to various schools. According to the Duval County Public Schools website, of those 180 titles, at least 34 were identified as books that “would not comply with new legislation or were not appropriate for elementary aged children.”
The Duval County website also provides the criteria by which the district determined which titles were, as Rozsa puts it, “problematic,” citing the state’s recent legislation. Those criteria included materials which “could be considered pornographic,” as well as the following categories:
Material which could be considered instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity is expressly forbidden in state law for students in grades K-3.
Material that could violate Florida Statute 1006.31(2)(d) and 1003.42(3) which, among other requirements, includes material that might describe a person or people as “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex.”
Under Florida law, each school district can determine what to do with these “forbidden” books. Duval County elected to store them while completing its state-mandated review. Upon being contacted by Drew Jacks, vice president of Perfection Learning, Duval decided to return them.
As Rozsa reports, Jacks brought a crew of employees from Perfection Learning to pack up the books in a semi-trailer, then began searching for someone who would take them, since they were part of a prepackaged set that could not be resold.
Firestorm Books, in Asheville North Carolina, finally agreed to take them, even though the sheer number of books amounted to nearly three times Firestorm’s usual inventory. Firestorm then came up with a plan to distribute the books.
As Rozsa reports:
The initiative, “Banned Books Back!,” offers to send the banned books free of charge to whoever fills out an online request form. More than one-third of the requests have come from Duval County, and many books are going to families with community libraries in their yards.
According to Ed Nawotka, writing for Publisher’s Weekly, the 22,500 books comprise a total of 46 separate titles. Firestorm is targeting “states where freedom to read is facing challenges,” and began that outreach by soliciting readers in the Sunshine State.
As Nawotka reports:
Among banned books that Firestorm Books will distribute are Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga; Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie; and 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert, illustrated by Rex Ray. A full list is available online.
Children and their allies in Florida can now request free books through Firestorm Books’ website, specifying either picture books for ages 4–8 or chapter books for ages 8–12. Requests will be fulfilled as funding becomes available, with Firestorm co-owner Glenda Ro noting that initial fundraising efforts have already covered the postage costs for the first 700 requests.
Rozsa notes that the haul includes a book about the history of the Pride Flag, a picture book featuring “iconic figures such as civil rights leader Rosa Parks,” and a biography of Harvey Milk.
As Rozsa reports, Firestorm volunteers are also including “surprise gifts” in the boxes being sent back to Florida and other places.
At the book-packing event, volunteers dropped surprise gifts in each box — a sticker that says, “Trash Fascism Not Books,” and a small paper pamphlet that looks like a coloring book titled “I Am a Unicorn and I like to Fight: A Kid’s Guide to Standing up to Fascism and Bullies.”
Publisher’s Weekly quotes one co-owner of the “self-described queer feminist collective” about the store’s outreach efforts.
“We’re working to return these books as an act of solidarity with the kids from whom they were taken. We hope the campaign can connect with, and contribute to, a broader antifascist struggle because book bans aren’t happening in isolation,” Beck Nippes, another co-owner of Firestorm Books, explained. “They’re connected to attacks on reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare in a climate of escalating violence against queer and trans folks, especially youth.”
In the age of the internet, the concept of banning books in this country to prevent people from reading them would seem to be inherently self-defeating. As observed by Eesha Pendharkar, writing for Education Week, the act of banning a book simply heightens students’ interest in reading it.
As Pendharkar notes:
Fifty seven percent of the 1,730 library personnel who participated in a nationally representative survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center in April said students aren’t aware when a book is challenged.
But when they do find out a book is under challenge, students’ interest in those titles goes up, 33 percent of respondents said. Eight percent said they noticed students using library services more often after books are challenged.
So if Republicans’ newfound penchant for book-banning is so counterproductive, why do they do it?
The short answer: It’s way to score cheap, easy political points with ignorant or intolerant constituents.
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But as Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers has noted, the broader end goal of inflicting these onerous laws on school districts is to weaken and ultimately destroy the public education system. Book bans serve that purpose well, by both draining resources from schools and intimidating teachers.
Republicans will almost certainly continue these efforts, as long as they can get political benefit out of it. But the books will continue to be read, whether conservatives like it or not.
