Wasilla’s only book store to host banned books popup event

A show astatine nan Ketchikan Public Library celebrating Pride Month successful June 2022. (Eric Stone/KRBD)

Wasilla’s only book shop is hosting an arena for Banned Books Week to combat censorship successful nan Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

The American Library Association began promoting Banned Books Week successful 1982, aft a emergence successful book bans crossed nan country.

The ACLU of Alaska and Out North Radio are co-hosting nan arena astatine Black Birch Books successful Wasilla connected Thursday day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Black Birch Books proprietor Taylor Jordan has a conception of banned books successful her store, and said nan arena is simply a measurement to merge Mat-Su residents.

“It’s conscionable benignant of a measurement to bring group together and support lit successful each way,” Jordan said. “There’s ne'er really a logic to prohibition aliases censor a book, because nan luxury of a book is, if you don’t for illustration it, you tin group it down, and you ne'er had to prime it up successful nan first place.”

According to an scale of school book bans from PEN America, book bans surged nationwide astatine nan extremity of past year, often aimed astatine removing titles pinch LGBTQ+ characters from schoolhouse libraries.

The Mat-Su has been astatine nan halfway of dozens of book challenges. Last year, nan Mat-Su Borough School District pulled 56 challenged books from shelves for review. A Library Citizens Advisory Committee past recommended that 19 books beryllium permanently removed from Mat-Su schoolhouse libraries. In August, a District Court Judge ordered all but seven of nan challenged books beryllium returned to shelves arsenic portion of an ongoing suit against nan territory from nan ACLU of Alaska connected behalf of Mat-Su families.

The Mat-Su Borough followed nan schoolhouse territory and established its ain committee to reappraisal challenged books. Nan Potts sits connected nan committee. She’s not successful favour of removing books from borough libraries entirely, but thinks books pinch big themes should not beryllium shelved successful nan young big section.

“That’s conscionable nan bottommost line, it’s inappropriate for young adults, and we’re talking young adults up to nan property of 16,” Potts said. “These are not banned books. We look at: Is nan book due for nan genre? Where should it go? And if it’s worthy nan taxpayers money to acquisition these books.”

The committee has reviewed 2 retired of 22 books recommended for reconsideration complete 3 meetings. While nan Mat-Su has seen nan highest measurement of book challenges, Anchorage, Homer and Ketchikan libraries person besides handled challenges to arguable books successful their collection.