{"id":37680,"date":"2026-10-05T11:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=37680"},"modified":"2026-10-05T11:27:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:27:50","slug":"you-cant-read-that-129","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/?p=37680","title":{"rendered":"You Can’t Read That!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BBW-logo_09092025-Registered-1024x706\"<\/a>In case you missed it, Banned Books Week<\/a><\/strong> is October 4-10, 2026.<\/p>\n

Book banning is at unprecedented levels in the USA, so it strikes me as odd that nothing about it popped up in my news feed until today. Shame on me for coming to the party a day late.<\/p>\n

As with every Banned Books Week You Can’t Read That! post, I’ll start with my annual defense of calling book banning by its proper name:<\/p>\n

YCRT! Annual Banned Books Week Rant<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you’re new to me and my blog, you should know I\u2019m passionate about books and the freedom to read. For years I’ve posted semi-regular news roundups about book banning and censorship, along with reviews of books targeted by the torch & pitchfork mob.<\/p>\n

Every year those who want to ban books line up to tell us Banned Books Week is a hoax. Books aren\u2019t banned in the USA, they claim. We\u2019re just protecting the children! Restricting access to age-inappropriate literature is not book banning!<\/p>\n

They hate words like ban, banning, and banned. In the years I\u2019ve been writing these YCRT! posts, more than one reader has called me a liar for saying that\u2019s what they\u2019re up to.<\/p>\n

That’s exactly what they\u2019re up to.<\/p>\n

In the USA, not a week goes by without parents in one state or another mobbing school board meetings to demand the removal of books from reading lists and libraries. Not a week goes by without some politician or administrator ordering books taken off public library shelves. New to the equation, Americans now live under a presidential administration which actively removes and bans books from Department of Defense schools, military academies, and professional reading lists published for military members (not to mention book racks at museums and national park gift shops) \u2014 and which would like to extend that level of control to civilian schools, colleges, public libraries, even commercial bookstores.<\/p>\n

Regardless of whether books banned in some schools or libraries remain available on-line or in bookstores, the intent of those who call for removing or restricting access to them is to keep us from reading them. That’s banning. And so says Merriam-Webster \u2014 look it up<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Our government no longer bans books at the national level, but it used to. Henry Miller\u2019s novel Tropic of Cancer, for example, was banned from its publication in 1934 until the Supreme Court overruled the ban in 1964. Even during the days when it and other books were officially banned, though, conservatives argued that such books weren\u2019t really banned because you could always board an ocean liner, sail to Paris, and buy copies there. Conservatives today offer an updated version of the same argument: you can buy \u201cGender Queer\u201d and \u201cAll Boys Aren\u2019t Blue\u201d from Amazon, so what\u2019s the problem with removing them from the children\u2019s section of the library?<\/p>\n

Book banners want to control what we read. They may no longer be able to ban books nationwide, but they\u2019ll do whatever they can to get books they disapprove of removed from libraries, bookstores, and classrooms. When they succeed, banned books are the result. Ban, banned, banning: these are the correct words, and that is why I use them.<\/p>\n

Yes, Virginia, books are still being banned, even in the freedom-loving USA. It has always happened. It continues to happen, now more than ever. When people quit trying to prevent me or my children from reading books they don\u2019t like, I\u2019ll quit using the word, but not until then.<\/p>\n

YCRT! News Roundup<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pen America: Nearly 12,000 School Book Bans in a Year, a Record High<\/a><\/strong> (AP)<\/p>\n

Nearly 12,000 bans took place in public schools over the past year, according to a new study from PEN America<\/a><\/span>, the highest total since the free expression organization began tracking removals five years ago. For the second straight year, Stephen King<\/a><\/span> was the author most likely to have his work withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Lies About Libraries<\/a><\/strong> (ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog)<\/p>\n

A three-part series debunking false claims used to undermine trust in libraries and attack those who work in them.<\/p>\n