Teen creates banned book club
Discussions will focus on classic novels, current hot topics
A Kutztown middle schooler created a Teen Banned Book Club to discuss and celebrate challenged stories, discussing both classic novels and current hot topics.
A group of 9 youth, ranging in grades 7 to 11 mostly from the Kutztown area, attended the club’s first meeting held at Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown on Jan. 12.
Joslyn Diffenbaugh, a 14-year-old Kutztown 8th grader, created this club after reading about public outcry to ban books in schools nationwide and locally based on topics of race, gender identity and sexuality.
“I wanted to make sure teens have access to books that they can personally relate to or have interest in and not to let groups in our community dictate what we can and cannot read,” said Joslyn.
“After seeing the proposed book banning in Texas and the experience in Central York School District, I became concerned about censorship in our own community,” said her mother, Lisa who helped establish the club. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a group in our community begin to propose book banning during our school board meetings.”
In November, there were heated discussions between parents and school board members during several meetings regarding LGBTQ+-themed books thought to be available to students in the high school library. Concerned parents said the books have inappropriate graphic adult content and demanded the books be removed.
Superintendent Christian Temchatin confirmed that the books in question were purchased by the district, but they were not placed on the school library shelves or made available to students. School officials did not specify the book titles.
Following Objection to Instructional Material or Topics Policy procedures, the books were to be evaluated and remain out of circulation until the process is complete. No further updates have been announced since then.
Sharing her own concerns with her mother, Joslyn came up with the idea for a book club for teens. Her goal is to have good open conversations with other teens about books that others may not necessarily want teens to read and form their own opinions.
“This club gives teens the opportunity to read books that speak to them and be able to freely discuss their own opinions without censorship. It also gives them the opportunity to look at the history of book banning and relate it to what is happening today,” her mother said.
They said there was a nice turn out for the first meeting.
“It’s so exciting to see the level of support we are receiving nationally and internationally,” said Lisa. “It’s nice to see Kutztown creating buzz around something so positive showing what a supportive and inclusive community we can be.”
The club has also gained attention on social media after the recent publication of a MediaNews Group article “Kutztown 8th grader creates Teen Banned Book Club announced the club’s creation.
“Check out Twitter and you will see that the initial article has almost gone viral on Twitter. Search “banned book club” and it comes up everywhere,” said Lisa.
Joslyn said that the experience of creating this club so far has been very surprising with all the attention and buzz the club is creating.
“I have had a lot of teenagers reach out to me excited about this club. I am hoping this club grows to include teens from other school districts,” said Joslyn. “It’s been cool working with Jordan and being in Firefly. I really want to thank Firefly for being so supportive.”
Jordan Busits, a Firefly Bookstore associate who is co-running the Teen Banned Book Club, said the bookstore is always happy to host book clubs.
“KASD’s library complaints did play a role in inspiring this club for Joslyn and Lisa. Our role as a bookstore is to support reading generally, and providing resources and education about challenged books in particular,” said Jordan.
Jordan said the purpose of the Teen Banned Book Club is to get teens reading and discussing books that are currently being challenged across the U.S.
“We plan to focus on the topics that got each book we will be reading ‘banned,’ both older and more recent books, how they relate to the story and the past and present of our country’s social issues, which we hope will help our members further develop critical thinking skills in regards to how fiction can both be a reflection of the reality of the time it was written as well as how it can affect reality,” said Jordan.
To start, club members discussed George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”
“A classic piece of work that has been banned or challenged many times in schools and libraries in the U.S.,” said Jordan.
So far, the bookstore has seen some support in the form of credit and cash donations to help members purchase the books that they will be reading for each monthly meeting.
“We continue to be surprised by the level of support this club has received. Donations continue to come in to fund the books for the club from within and outside our community,” said Lisa. “They are also receiving a donation from a book drive for Central York School District.”
Firefly Bookstore has been asked if there is a donation system in place, but the bookstore staff have not set that up yet. The store has been accepting preloaded Firefly Gift Cards and store trade credit transfers to offset costs for acquiring books. Once more established, a more structured approach will allow the public to make donations to the club, said Jordan.
Lisa hopes that other small book stores take interest in this club and start clubs of their own.
Future meetings will be held bi-weekly on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. The next book they are discussing is “The Hate You Give” by Angie Thomas.
For updates and information about other events at Firefly Bookstore, follow on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/fireflybookstore.