I have been off to Oxford to celebrate the skills, inspiration, charisma and resilience of librarians. First was the presentation of the Royal Society of Literature’s Benson Medal to Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian. This is the RSL’s big prize, founded in 1916 (by A. C. Benson) “in respect of meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles lettres”. It’s for a distinguished literary contribution over a whole career, and that contribution doesn’t have to be in writing itself. There are some notable authors among the recipients (from J. R. R. Tolkein to Anita Desai). But recently there have also been leading publishers, editors and reviewers (Liz Calder, Mary-Kay Wilmers and more).
Ovenden was honoured for his long work in libraries. He has done more than anyone in the country over the last couple of decades in sticking up for libraries (and not just those in universities) and in sticking up for the knowledge, expertise and intellectual challenges that libraries represent. He has also written an excellent book on the long and inglorious history of knowledge-destruction: Burning the Books.
It was wonderfully appropriate that, after the presentation of the medal (eloquently done by Ruth Scurr, Chair of the RSL Council), there was a screening of the new documentary The Librarians. Directed by Kim A. Snyder, it investigates the banning of books from school libraries in the US, especially but not only in red states (Texas and Florida have a starring role). The banning sometimes seems to verge on the ridiculous. Can censoring Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel of the holocaust, Maus, in part because of its “mouse nudity” really be serious? The trouble is that it can be, and is. And, predictably enough, the books singled out (and often branded “pornographic”) are often those that feature diverse characters, gay heroes and black and brown people.
The first main theme of the film is the heroic resistance of school librarians in the face of these bans. A number lost their jobs and were threatened with violence, but they didn’t back down. Two of these heroes were at the Oxford screening. The second is the funding and organization of those trying to ban the books. Groups like “Moms for Liberty” go to great lengths to look like groups of concerned parents, worried merely about their children’s reading matter. But the film investigates their funding through rich donors on the MAGA right. They are as much highly coordinated storm troopers in the culture wars as a gathering of anxious moms.
The Librarians was an eye-opener. But I couldn’t help reflecting that we should look at ourselves too. It is easy to deplore what we saw in the film, and not to face our own potential complicity in campaigns like this. Censorship works because (unlike the librarians in the film) people tend to tut-tut but go along with it. And sometimes, let’s face it, we have our own views on what we would prefer children not to read, even if those views can be counterproductive. Sixty-five years ago, my mum banned Enid Blyton from my bookshelves. The result was that when I got my first book token to spend for myself, I binged on the Famous Five.
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