Can we talk about the book fair I saw at a school in Ohio last week

I was visiting my niece's school in Columbus last Tuesday and walked through their annual book fair. I noticed they had a whole table of banned books like "Maus" and "Speak" but they were wrapped in paper with a sticker saying "ask a librarian about this title." The teacher told me the district quietly allows them but doesn't want to make a scene with parents. It got me thinking about how schools handle these gray areas. Have any of you seen similar setups at libraries or schools near you?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_nguyen19d ago

Oh yeah I saw almost the exact same thing at a school near me in Oregon last fall. They had a little cart labeled "tough topics" with those wrapped books and the whole setup felt like this secret handshake thing.

murphy.tessa19d ago

Does @blair_nguyen think those wrapped books actually get checked out or do most kids just walk past them? I'm wondering if the secrecy makes kids more curious or if it just makes the books seem like something to avoid.

emmam8917d agoTop Commenter

Guess @murphy.tessa has a good point about whether the secrecy works or just makes the books feel like something weird. Did the "tough topics" label on that cart in Oregon actually get kids to stop and look, or did they just ignore it like everything else in the library? Seems like the real question is whether wrapping the books adds mystery or just gives them a stigma nobody wants to be seen touching.