By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Rachel Manija Brown, the owner of Paper & Clay, has created a display at her bookstore of the nearly 200 books that have been banned. The display is on a central table for everyone to examine; one each book there is a short description of why it was banned.
Paper & Clay bookstore owner Rachel Manija Brown holding her book that was refused by the publisher, for “content.”
Brown’s hope is the display will lead to discussions on the various reasons the books were banned, whose criteria should apply in today’s world and whether a ban should apply just to minors or to everyone, no matter their age.
“All the books on this central table are frequently banned from American school libraries, schools and public libraries. They have been removed from my shelves, with the gaps left so you can see where they were,” said Brown.
Books have been banned for different reasons in different decades as society changes. There are many books that are banned today for a variety of reasons.
“In 2024, Idaho passed a law that required public and school libraries to move books deemed harmful to minors to the ‘Adults Only’ section,” said Brown, who added, “One-room libraries in Idaho with an adults-only section must bar anyone under 18 from the entire library, unless accompanied by an adult.”
It is said that book bans are discriminatory against those who are poor because they can’t afford to buy books and therefore would have no access to those ideas, and to those students with working parents who don’t have the time to accompany their child to the library every time.
Book bans, noted Brown, do not support parents; they allow a small minority to control what everyone’s children and adults are permitted to read. This affects everyone, those just under 18, not just young children. Many books and authors that are well known and even beloved, such as R.L. Stein and Stephen King, are on the banned list.
Brown, who is an author of 30 books in several different genres herself, many of them for young adults, feels strongly that each child’s parent should be the arbiter of what their children should read and what type of experiences they choose their child to have. Brown has personal experience in having one of her own writings, characters and ideas attempted to be suppressed by publishers and others in the book industry.
It has been said that books broaden horizons of those limited in personal interactions and travel. One hundred years ago, and even until the advent of television, almost the only knowledge people had of the world outside their town was through books. Committees seeking to control the minds of other people’s children by banning books creates a narrow view on life.
For example, even in 2025, U.S. military schools have removed some books about immigration and the history of the Civil Rights movement. Even the book Freckleface Strawberry about a girl with freckles learning it is alright to look different and feel good about her individuality has been banned. Charlotte’s Web also was once banned.
Many banned books are written by or about women, people of color or other nationalities, non-Christian religions. They may be stories where the characters are sexual, either heterosexual or LGBTQ. This banned book display will be on display through the end of February. Seeing the titles and authors, many of which are extremely well-known, is eye-opening and could be mind-expanding.
Paper & Clay opened just a few months ago at 23872 Lake Drive in Crestline, across from Bizzyland and Ace Hardware. It is open from noon to 6:00 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Brown has handmade pottery and even some natural jewelry and other interesting objects in the store, including dioramas of scenes from famous books, that she has made for sale in the store.
There are several rooms of books for readers of all genres and even a children’s book room for the younger crowd. It is interesting which ones of the popular children’s books have at one time been banned, especially the ones about young girls becoming motivated and independent.
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