Authors spoke out against book banning at an intellectual freedom event held at the Provo Library on Feb. 22.
BYU’s Bateman team partnered with EveryLibrary, an organization focused on increasing funding for libraries and fighting book banning, to host an author panel and Q&A discussion regarding intellectual freedom.
Authors James Dashner, Charlie Bird and Richard Paul Evans headlined the event. They shared remarks, answered audience questions and raised concerns about book bans.
This event comes after Governor Cox signed HB 29 on Mar. 18. The piece of legislation was written to better identify and remove "pornographic or indecent material” from schools, according to the bill sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory and Sen. Todd D. Weiler.
This law is for the benefit of children, Ivory said.
“Some things are too heavy for children,” Ivory said during a house open session. “We’ve recognized that from the beginning of public education; pornographic and graphically sexualized content is too heavy for children.”
Lauren Walker Arnett, the Freedom to Read, Power to Think campaign lead, said a lot of support for book banning comes from concerned parents. While these feelings are understandable, bans are not the answer, she said.
“You can choose to say, ‘I don't want my child to read this and I don't personally want to read this,’ but, in order to defend intellectual freedom, we need to make sure all information and all books are available for everyone,” Arnett said.
Celeste Allred, an event attendee and holistic healer, shared a similar opinion. She said she wished people would focus on healthily educating children about sensitive topics rather than banning books.
“A child will find out information that they are curious about so banning it does no good; being educated in a healthy way is what we need,” Allred said.
During the Q&A, James Dashner compared book bans to drawing arbitrary lines in the sand and said setting such precedents is difficult.
“How could you possibly ever decide this crosses the line and that it should not be in libraries?” James Dashner said.
Evans, author of “The Christmas Box,” spoke about the power of freedom of speech and how different ideas — while conflicting with popular belief — can still be of value to society.
“The idea of having conflicting ideas is powerful,” Evans said. “That’s how good ideas come up.”
Ideas like these help readers open doors to new worlds, said Damian Dashner, a student author.
“A man lives one life, a reader lives a thousand lives, an author creates a thousand lives,” Damian Dashner said.
Reading stories similar to his own made Bird feel seen and heard, he said. Storylines and characters' experiences can act as agents of healing for many, he said.
“As we gain proximity to other people’s stories and see ourselves in them, it allows for so much healing,” Bird said.
After the remarks and Q&A, the authors met with participants and signed their books. Following the event, James Dashner said he hopes people will continue to be voices of positive change in the community.
“Be a voice of reason, speak up your opinion,” James Dashner said. “Support libraries and bookstores.”
He encouraged people not to be afraid but engage civilly with others in efforts to write a new chapter in the history of intellectual freedom.