A New York Chapter on the Banned Books Controversy
This episode of P.S. Weekly takes a look at how the national wave of book bans has been coming ashore in surprising ways in New York City.
Between 2021 and 2023, there were nearly 6,000 instances of books being banned across the country, according to PEN America, a group that defends writers and protects free expression. Nearly 60% of these books were young adult books written for school-age kids.
New York City schools have not banned books, but recently got a taste of this controversy when books that touched on themes of Black history, immigration, and transgender identity were discovered in the trash near a Staten Island school, sparking an investigation, according to Gothamist. But educators here had already been embroiled or engaging in the national conversation around book bans in other ways.
Librarian Lindsay Klemas poses for a portrait. Photo by Jana Mohamed
This episode’s first segment features a school librarian who in 2022, after using social media to promote LGBTQ books during Pride month, faced an onslaught of vitriol and harassment online.
Lindsay Klemas, who was the librarian at Forest Hills High School in Queens at the time, said the incident took a toll on her mental health. She worries about the broader implications such attacks could have on educators and public schools.
“A parent has the right to say for their own kid what they can read. It does get murkier as you become a teenager,” said Klemas, who is now the coordinator for all Queens public school libraries. “But I also think that these groups are trying to erode the trust of educators in general, and so I think by placing doubt in people's minds about what a teacher is exposing kids to is really just trying to attack the public school system.”
The show’s second segment looks at a Queens high school that has created a sophomore English class devoted entirely to books that have been banned elsewhere.
Amy Weidner, who teaches the course at the Academy of American Studies, said the books they’re reading can help show students “how we open our minds and accept new things through literature.”
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