Timberland Regional Library exec says no request yet for book bans this year

Timberland Regional Library (TRL) Executive Director Cheryl Heywood said TRL has not received any request to remove certain books in the library’s collection this year amid the controversial book bans happening in other parts of the country.

In an interview with The JOLT, Heywood said TRL upholds the citizens’ right to access information and the freedom to read and view.

“So far this year, we have not had any formal complaints (to remove books in our collection),” Heywood told The Jolt.

Heywood said there are internal protocols and reviews within TRL that the board follows, adding that the library staff undergoes intellectual freedom training.

“There's times that we might move the book to another section of a library… but we're not deleting it,” she said.

Based on the current record, Heywood said they received four complaints in 2022 and two in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

During the Lacey City Council work session on June 8, Heywood mentioned that in an audit two years ago, the TRL was one of the country’s top libraries regarding equality, diversity and inclusive collections.

The executive director speaks once a year to 18 city councils and twice yearly to five county boards of commissioners within TRL’s scope.

The American Library Association (ALA) recorded the highest number of attempted book bans on record in 2022.

ALA reported that the vast majority of the titles targeted for censorship were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.

As part of the celebration of Pride Month this June, the White House announced that a new coordinator will be appointed at the U.S. Department of Education “to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students.”

The new national coordinator would focus on offering training programs to schools across the country. These trainings would address the issue of book bans that specifically “target specific communities and create a hostile school environment may violate federal civil rights laws.”

“Book banning erodes our democracy, removes vital resources for student learning, and can contribute to the stigma and isolation that LGBTQI+ people and other communities face,” the White House's statement read.