By Alexis McCarney ’25, staff writer

A librarian and electives supervisor of the Ephrata School District visited LVC to discuss the importance of book banning in America. 

Dr. Samantha Hull has become an impassioned activist in the past year as her libraries have become victims of silent book removal.  When she realized that books containing information or stories about marginalized groups had disappeared, she knew something had to be done. 

“Censorship has changed because now it is coming from parents and communities,” Hull said. 

The experiences and biases of the communities and parents cloud their judgment on what is truly right or wrong. Shielding children today from the realities of the world will not help them. This lack of knowledge carries over to the list of books they are demanding to be removed; the books they want gone are not even on the shelves of these libraries.   

Hull was invited to a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on politically motivated book banning by Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin this past spring. Hull shared briefly about her experience testifying at this hearing and how it felt like both sides were using the same words and mentioning the same things but having totally different conversations.

Trying to break through the political barriers and hardwired narrow mindsets that have been sparking some of the book banning has been a challenge. 

“We know better now,” Hull said.

Most of the books that people want to be banned are based on books containing LGBTQIA+ characters. This pattern has been consistent for almost 20 years but is becoming more apparent in this year’s top 10 banned books that Hull shared.  The banning is targeting this group the most.  Some other types of books targeted in this series of banning are about racism, Holocaust, among many others. 

Hull shared the importance of being aware of what is happening in one’s community. Her devotion to libraries and advocacy was abundantly clear in her presentation.