Library officials in the Illinois Valley discuss anti-book ban legislation

Illinois Valley library officials say Illinois’ new anti-book ban law will have little to no impact on their daily operations.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law this week prohibiting libraries from banning books, saying public libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or have their own statement prohibiting book bans in order to be eligible for state funding.

“It’s not going to change anything for us,” Peru Public Library Co-director Emily Schaub said. “We have our own policy in place if someone were to come to us with a concern. We are a public body. We are there to provide as much information to as many different types of people as we can.”

The law effectively makes Illinois the first state to prohibit book bans, as some states across the country challenge and remove literature from public schools and libraries.

I’ve been working in libraries for 15 years now and most of the time, it’s just about hearing a patron and their complaint.”

—  Emily Schaub, Peru Public Library co-director

Schaub said while the library has received complaints about books, there has been no request explicitly asking the library to ban a book.

“I’ve been working in libraries for 15 years now and most of the time, it’s just about hearing a patron and their complaint,” she said.

Like most libraries, Peru has a reconsideration of materials policy, which allows patrons to come forward with a concern. Those patrons fill out a form, which is available online or can be printed upon request, asking them what they objected to in the book.

“We have a meeting with them to hear their concerns,” Schaub said. “If it was in the teen section and we had - let’s say 20 parents complain, we would probably move it over to the adult section, if it wasn’t already in there, we are not going to move it from the collection.”

Jan Ambrose, director of the Marseilles Public Library, agreed the new law would have little affect on the library, as it hasn’t had anyone wanting to ban any books in “quite a while” and referenced its reconsideration of materials policy.

“I really don’t think this will affect us, we have forms they can fill out if they think a book should be elsewhere, but I really don’t think it’s going to be a challenge here,” she said.

The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, comes among a national record number of book challenges, laws and policies aiming to limit the literature in public schools and libraries.

In March, the American Library Association reported a “record number of demands” to censor library books and materials in 2022, citing 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources. The highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship more than 20 years ago.

Last April, the Ottawa High School school board heard complaints from citizens about “The Kite Runner” by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of a young boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. It contains vulgar language and some disturbing scenes.

The board agreed not to remove the book from the school’s English curriculum following the complaints and said the district is willing to work with any parent who wants their child to study an alternative piece of literature, as is standard procedure in the case of parental objections.

La Salle-Peru High School Superintendent Steven Wrobleski said the district already has systems in place if someone were to come to the school with a concern about reading material.

“If a parent for whatever reason wished to have their child not participate in that reading, we provide them with an alternative assignment in order to fulfill the objectives of that study,” Wrobleski said. “So, I think the systems we have still provide families with alternatives. I don’t see this having any impact on our operations.”

Crystal Loughran works at Northern and Southern Illinois universities in the academic tutor program for children who have been affected by COVID and worked 35 years in public education. She spoke at the Ottawa High School Board meeting last April and said she was against banning books but wants to bring awareness to the topic.

“My objective is just to enlighten, just to share overall what our children are being exposed to,” she said.

Loughran said she doesn’t know what the answer is, but it should be up to the public, not her to make those decisions.

“This has never been about what I thought,” Loughran said. “Let them think about what they would like to do with the books now that they are aware the content is there. I think public opinion should constitute what is available in a public library, so if that means they feel this content needs to be put behind something or be restricted in some way, it’s up to them.”