Everett, Sno-Isle libraries protect right to read
By The Herald Editorial Board
The display at Everett Public Library’s downtown branch for Banned Books Week, which begins today, is disconcerting, baffling — “Charlotte’s Web”? —and might seem self-contradictory at first; books with a history of being banned or removed from shelves elsewhere carry a label that invites library users to “Read Banned Books,” but the difficulty faced by some to do so is reflected in the yellow paper band that keeps each book’s covers shut; until you dare to slip the band off and check out a “forbidden” tome.
That’s the warning and the celebration that is being marked this week by Everett Public Library and Sno-Isle Libraries at its 23 locations in communities throughout Snohomish and Island counties.
It’s a condemnation of efforts to suppress books and publications, but it also honors the freedom of speech and thought that Americans enjoy, said Abigail Cooley, who will mark five years as the director of Everett Public Library’s two branches this November.
“Banned Books Week to me is like one solid week to really bring attention to intellectual freedom and censorship and the books that have been challenged,” Cooley said in an interview last week. “But intellectual freedom and access to books is at the forefront of what we do every day. In some ways we celebrate that every day.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-everett-sno-isle-libraries-protect-right-to-read/