We Unite with Libraries Against Book Bans

by

A United Methodist Insight Editorial

When the late Sean Connery was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the American Film Institute, the Oscar-winning actor told his audience that the greatest blessing of his life was learning to read at age 5. Reading, he said, enabled a young Scottish lad to widen his horizons and eventually read the movie scripts that brought him fame and fortune.

Without reading, said Connery, he’d likely never have left the impoverished life where he started.

Now the very act of reading is under attack at multiple levels in multiple places, including the libraries of United Methodist churches, colleges and universities. That’s why United Methodist Insight has become a partner in the American Library Association’s “Unite Against Book Bans” campaign that will celebrate “Right to Read” Day on April 7 at the start of National Library Week.

“With more than 200 partner organizations and tens of thousands of individual supporters, Unite Against Book Bans connects, equips, and mobilizes the public to advocate in their communities for the right to read and to defeat attempts at every level of government to censor reading material,” says Unite Against Book Bans' website.

It continues: “The freedom to read has been under attack for years now. But the censorship attacks on libraries aren’t just book bans. The individuals and groups behind the attacks on libraries are threatening programs, cutting funding, and trying to pass laws that target library workers and educators.

“…For National Library Week, we’re ‘Drawn to the Library.’ What can you find at the library? In a word: FREEDOM. For Right to Read Day, which takes place Monday, April 7, 2025, we’re ‘Drawn to Freedom’ — the freedom to read, the freedom to access information, the freedom to find community — all of the opportunities our libraries provide.” (Click here to access resources for observing the day)

The site goes on: “Unite represents the overwhelming majority of Americans that believe in the freedom to read. Our coalition members are readers, parents, students, educators, librarians and library workers, authors, publishers, community and advocacy organizations, businesses and workers, nonprofits, faith groups, elected officials, civic leaders, and other concerned people who stand ready to oppose censorship.”

Censorship is happening everywhere these days, from stripping “DEI” information from government websites to universities scrubbing their sites of similar references. Historian Heather Cox Richardson has reported that some of Trump-critical posts have “mysteriously” disappeared from her Facebook site. Presbyterian Outlook, the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church (USA), had its Facebook account “suspended” by Meta until it filed a complaint and was restored.

These are just a few of the current federal administration’s attempts to keep US citizens from learning the full truth of American history and reading thoughtful, fact-based critiques of President Donald Trump’s actions. As the columnist J. Basil Dannebohm wrote this week for Baptist News Global, “Our nation might not ‘technically’ be in the throes of a constitutional crisis (yet), but those who have refused to consume the Kool-Aid are certainly in an arduous battle against the forces of misinformation. This isn’t just about freedom of speech, though, and our present situation is no longer political.”

This assault on the First Amendment carries with it a dire warning for The United Methodist Church and all other faith groups because our right to practice our beliefs is imperiled as well.

The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” However, as we’ve seen in the first three months of this year, the current occupant of the Oval Office isn’t above issuing “executive orders” that circumvent and even violate the rights enumerated in the First Amendment and elsewhere in the U.S. Constitution.

That’s why observing “Right to Read Day” and National Library Week are especially important this year. Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, was an Oxford don for whom reading was an essential practice. Wesley founded Sunday schools to teach people, especially youngsters captured by six days of child labor, how to read using the Bible.

We feel sure Wesley would approve of the American Library Association’s principles:

  • Reading is a foundational skill, critical to future learning and to exercising our democratic freedoms.
  • Books are tools for understanding complex issues. Limiting young people's access to books does not protect them from life's complex and challenging issues.
  • Individuals should be trusted to make their own decisions about what to read.
  • Parents should not be making decisions for other parents' children.
  • Young people deserve to see themselves reflected in a library's books.

We can express the peril no better than does the ALA:

“A majority of Americans agree with these principles and are opposed to book bans. However, efforts to ban books, especially in schools and libraries, have been occurring in unprecedented numbers across the country since 2021. The corresponding rise in state and local legislation which empowers censors or even allows criminal prosecution of librarians or teachers for simply doing their jobs is equally shocking.

“We fear that the centers of knowledge for families and communities are in jeopardy. That's why we, the undersigned organizations, call on anyone in a position of power to protect the rights of everyone to access a variety of books, in libraries and elsewhere.

“We call on all policymakers to Unite Against Book Bans.”

So, too, says this publication. We urge United Methodists and all who value their freedom to join in #RightToReadDay.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 to amplify news and view for, by and about marginalized and under-served United Methodists. Please email for permission to reproduce this content elsewhere.