NIXA, MO. — In my suburban town, Nixa, Missouri, we have a population of roughly 25,000 and are primarily conservative. So, in 2021, when a surge of book bans took place across America, with an attempted 729 books banned that year alone according to the American Library Association, Nixa soon followed.
By May 2022, the books “Fun Home”, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” and “Homegoing” were taken off the shelves of my high school library. At this time, I was only in eighth grade. But I’d heard about the push for book bans in my school district because my sister was a senior. My first reaction was, “That’s dumb, it’s not gonna go anywhere.” But I was mistaken.
The main people involved in these challenges were part of a private Facebook group called “Concerned Parents of Nixa” and members of the national “Moms for Liberty” group. On the outside, they advocate for what they deem “parental rights” in education. However, most of their actions have contributed to the nationwide book ban movement.
Although the book challengers pointed to concerns about adult content, their attacks were focused on books that addressed issues of race, religion, and sexual orientation. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots on why those books were targeted.
After those initial book bans, I got involved by becoming a leader in Nixa Students Against Book Restrictions (NixaSABR). Supporting the First Amendment has become a big part of my life.
The first time I spoke at a school board meeting, I knew I wanted to make an impact, but speakers only got three minutes. I devised a plan. Along with my speech, I chose to wear a school-approved speech and debate shirt that said “Speak Up” on the back. Not only would everyone in the room see my message, but there might also be a journalist there to cover the story and our actions. I was right.
The next day, multiple news articles described the student speeches, accompanied by a photo of my back with “Speak Up” clearly visible.
One thing commonly stated at those broad meetings was that the books weren’t actually getting “banned” because students could still access them in other ways. The problem with this argument is that access and availability are different. I’m fortunate because I can get restricted books that other students cannot. Whether they can’t get them because of cost, transportation or 1000 more issues that we aren’t considering. That’s what makes public school libraries amazing. They’re designed to give equal access, especially for those who don’t have it.
In a world where social mobility is directly affected by education, libraries are a key resource. So, taking away the power to learn and understand others through free books is harmful to society.
Since then, NixaSABR has continued our efforts. Over the summer, the team hosted two Day of Action events. Unfortunately, I was travelling and couldn’t attend, so I reached out to Thomasina Brown, a senior at Arizona State University and leader of NixaSABR, to explain a little bit about these events.
“In June our Show me Resistance event at Bookmarx brought nearly 50 people and over 10 organizations that spoke about their cause and efforts,” Brown said. “At this event, attendees were encouraged to speak to these organizations and connect with the efforts they are working towards. Additionally, attendees were encouraged to write letters, make phone calls, and design protest signs to direct towards Missouri officials to demand change and listen to their constituents.”
The other event was a Freedom to Read event at Pagination Bookshop. They had similar activities to Show me Resistance, but this one was partnered with BookBag, an annual program that provides families with books, snacks, school supplies and hygiene products throughout the month of July. Attendees were encouraged to bring donations to this organization to help our local community.
NixaSABR also collaborates with the Golden State Readers, a student group in California that defends the freedom to read. Over the last two years, we’ve partaken in their protest Break The Tape, an event during Banned Books Week where NixaSABR leaders hand out caution tape to students who support the freedom to read.
The protest started small. But by the middle of the week, almost every hallway had at least one bag with a strip of caution tape tied to it. While this was a big win for us, it quickly came crashing down when we started hearing gossip about an assistant principal telling students to take off the caution tape.
Hearing this, one of our leaders went to the admin to explain the situation. Initially, we were told that we could schedule a meeting with the principals. But the protest would end the Friday before the suggested meeting. So, the admin met with that leader and told that what NixaSABR was doing was for a noble cause, but the caution tape was too distracting in class. The rest of the week we toned down how much tape we passed out but still finished through with our goal in the beginning.
This year, we didn’t have a run-in with the admin, and Break the Tape went smoothly, with around 80 to 100 students participating.
On a personal level, I forget the impact that student groups have, like NixaSABR, until I’m in conversations that give me a new perspective. This tends to happen during Break the Tape week.
This year, I’m a part of a group of tutors, and during our free time, we talk about politics. One of the people in the group told me she doesn’t tend to follow the news. But on the first day of Banned Books Week, I came to school with caution tape, and she asked for a piece. She told me that even though she doesn’t follow the political world, she strongly believes in the freedom to read.
While I understand some book challengers think they’re doing the right thing, I wish they would speak to a diverse group of students. The students and educators are the ones being directly affected and need to be a part of the decision, and like my tutoring friend, students care about their freedom to read. Even though we’re kids, we’ve been taught to put context to books. But when those books are taken away, we don’t get a chance to learn and understand other walks of life.
I’m proud to say that NixaSABR’s efforts have been worth it for two reasons. One, our school board lacked transparency when this first started. Years later, in 2023, during another wave of book challenges, each board member talked about every book and why they voted the way they did. Two, our school still receives book challenges, but the school board hasn’t banned a book in over two years.
Overall, book bans go against American values. Banning books is a form of censorship that restricts open discussion, curiosity and free thought. As a journalist myself this scares me. Censorship in schools normalizes censorship elsewhere. If we allow book bans to become routine, it becomes easier for people in power to control what information gets out to the people.
The easiest way to fight this is by doing the little things. In your public libraries, request banned books, read them and talk about them.
