Students at Fort River Elementary Mobilize to Oppose Book Banning

Book bans are a major issue in today’s world, and that’s why fifth-graders at Fort River Elementary School in Amherst are taking a stand. On June 3, they hosted a Banned Book Event to raise awareness about book bans and restrictions on reading access.

They were joined by authors Megan Dowd Lambert and Breanna McDaniel, both of whom have had their books banned or challenged.

“I think book bans are bad because if people can’t find any books with LGBTQ+ characters, or books from other perspectives, that isn’t fair,” said fifth-grader Owen Lakota. “If people want to read books like that, they should be able to.”

The students are also working to pass “An Act Regarding Free Expression” in the Massachusetts State Legislature. The bill was passed by the State Senate (S.2696) in November and is awaiting action by the House of Representatives (H.3594) before the end of the legislative session.

“If passed, the bill would make it harder for people to ban books in Massachusetts,” said fifth-grader Eleanor Green. “We hope this extra protection will keep books on the shelves and make sure kids like us can always find characters they identify with.”

When asked about their experiences having their books banned or challenged, both McDaniel and Dowd Lambert spoke to the impact of those actions.

McDaniel described the banning of her debut picture book, “Hands Up!” (2019, Turtleback). which she wrote and which was illustrated by Shane Evans. The book was banned in a widely publicized book ban in York, Pa., and McDaniel said she feared she would never be published again.

“The things people were saying about the books that were banned were not true, and it was really hard to hear that my book was being taken out of schools and libraries because people felt that it would hurt children with the ideas in it,” McDaniel said. “I cried quite a bit and I worried that more book bans would come, which they did.”

She credited librarians, publishers, editors, and teachers with helping her continue her work. Her second book, “Impossible Moon,” carries the message that nothing is impossible. “So even though I still worry and I still cry, I also have hope that books like mine will still find readers that appreciate the stories we create,” she said.

Dowd Lambert cited a quote from novelist Mary Robinette Kowal as a guiding principle in her work writing inclusive children’s books: “It’s not about adding diversity for the sake of diversity, it’s about subtracting homogeneity for the sake of realism.”

“I write from what I know, and that is a world populated by diverse people,” Dowd Lambert said. “Some of my children’s books have faced formal challenges to remove them from school and library collections simply because they include depictions of same-sex couples. Our world is a diverse one, and children need and deserve to see that diversity represented in their books.”

At the Fort River event, students from third through sixth grade heard Dowd Lambert read one of her books aloud and discussed her experience with book bans.

“I believe that banning books not only takes away hard work from an author, but it also makes it harder to learn about other traditions and opinions,” said fifth-grader Miriam Goren-Watts. “If someone worked really hard writing or illustrating that book, it could make them feel like they did all that work for nothing.”

Students gathered in the Fort River School Library, which is overseen by librarian Molly Millay. Millay cited statistics from the American Library Association showing a dramatic rise in book challenges in recent years.

“Before 2020, there were an average of fewer than 300 unique titles challenged per year,” Millay said. “Last year, there were 4,235 unique titles challenged.”

The legislation the fifth-graders have advocated for would make book banning more difficult in public libraries, though it would not apply to school libraries. In 2023, Amherst school librarians created a policy — voted on and approved by the school committee and superintendent — aimed at protecting students’ freedom to read.

“Luckily, in Amherst, we have not had issues of book banning like in other communities,” Millay said.

For more information, contact Eleanor Green, Miriam Goren-Watts, and Owen Lakota through their teacher, Tim Austin, at austint@arps.org.