“LET BOOKS BE. Protect the freedom to read.” Those statements theme this year’s nationwide October 4-10 Banned Books Week. That event focuses on informing all of us about book censorship attempts in libraries, schools and bookstores.
Locally, Buckham Memorial Library is spotlighting Banned Books Week in two displays. There I read a list of 10 far-fetched reasons for banning books, according to the American Library Association. For example: Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic “encourages children to break dishes so they don’t have to dry them.” Or “the basket carried by Little Red Riding Hood contained a bottle of wine, which condones the use of alcohol” from the story by Jacob and Wilhelm K. Grimm. Or “if there is a possibility that something might be controversial, then why not eliminate it?,” referencing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
As I read down the list of ridiculous reasons for banning books, my jaw dropped. I laughed at the absurdity of it all. Really?
Because I’m a writer, an avid reader, a journalism school graduate who has worked as a newspaper reporter, and a strong supporter of First Amendment rights, I hold zero tolerance for banning books. If someone objects to the content of a book, then don’t read it. But don’t tell me I can’t read it. And certainly don’t pull it from a public space.
With kids, adults should consider age, maturity and the consequences of withholding a book from a child in their life. If I was a tween or adolescent and my parents or school banned a book, I’d probably try really hard to find a copy. Banning books from public libraries and schools is not a decision I can support. Ever.
I believe that knowledge is power. I’d rather a child be informed than uninformed. I’d rather a child learn from a reliable information source, such as a book, than “learn” from peers, social media or the internet. Or be kept in the dark. Kids are way smarter, know way more, than we adults realize.
All of those thoughts flitted through my mind as I viewed the two Banned Books Week displays at the Faribault library. Those displays featured books like Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
I fingered the free LET BOOKS BE swag—bookmarks, buttons, wristbands, stickers—grabbing a few to show that I’m not OK with banning books.
We need only look at history, to Nazi Germany, to understand the devastating consequences of banning books. Consider May 1933, when 40,000 people gathered in the Berlin town square and burned some 20,000 books deemed as “un-German.” That is perhaps the most extreme example of book banning ever.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” wrote George Santayana in The Life of Reason in 1905, years before the book burnings in Nazi Germany. Now more than ever with attacks on the free press and on First Amendment rights, it’s important and necessary that we, and I don’t mean just librarians and teachers, stand strong against censorship, against book bannings.
To suggest that The Diary of Anne Frank should be censored because “it is a real ‘downer’” is among the far-fetched reasons given for banning a book on the ALA list I read at my local library. Imagine suppressing the voice of that remarkable teenager by pulling her diary from library shelves. I cannot fathom the thought of such absurdity, of Anne’s story left unread because someone objected. “LET BOOKS BE. Protect the freedom to read.”
FYI: To learn more about Banned Books Week and banned books, visit the American Library Association website by clicking here.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Speeding on Willow Street, through my neighborhood September 2, 2026
Tags: city street, commentary, Faribault, Faribault Police Department, law enforcement, Minnesota, monitoring speed, neighborhood, residential street, speed trailer, speeding, traffic, traffic laws, traffic violation, Willow Street
FOR 42 YEARS, Randy and I have lived in the same house along an arterial street through Faribault. And in those four-plus decades, traffic volume has increased significantly due to growth on the south end of town. Speeding and crashes have also risen, based on my observations.
For example, less than a year ago a Suburban, pursued by a pick-up truck, took out the power pole by our home, crossed our front yard (almost hitting our house) and destroyed a newly-stained fence panel. Other crashes have occurred within eyesight of our home.
I don’t know the cause of most crashes. It could be inattentive/distracted/impaired driving, a medical issue, driver error, speeding… Without reading police reports, I can’t say.
But frankly, I am growing weary of all of this. The speed. The crashes. The disrespect for the Willow Street neighborhood.
Willow Street runs for 10 uninterrupted blocks from Division Street to Tenth Street through an all-residential neighborhood with one exception, an automotive repair shop in the 200 block. That’s a lengthy stretch of roadway without anything to slow down motorists. And, no, I’m not advocating for a stop sign. But something needs to change.
Those of us who live along this street deserve to be respected, to feel safe in our homes, to be seen as a neighborhood and not just a route for drivers to quickly get to their destinations.
A few days ago, the Faribault Police Department installed a temporary electronic speed monitoring trailer along the southbound side of Willow near our house per the request of City Councilman John Rowan. I’m thankful to see this in place as a speed deterrent. If that data is recorded, I’d like to see the results.
Curious as to how fast motorists were driving, I decided to observe. But before heading outside to watch numbers flash across the electronic screen, I made a small sign with two words: SLOW DOWN. I stood along the sidewalk by my house and watched, my head swiveling between oncoming southbound vehicles and the sign. Drivers could not see me and my sign until they were closing in on me and the speed trailer, meaning I did not affect their speed.
I set the parameters of only tabulating speeds of 35 mph or faster. I wanted to give drivers some grace. The speed limit is 30 mph.
I didn’t have to wait long. Within five minutes of planting my feet on the sidewalk late Monday afternoon, I observed five vehicles driving 35 (2), 36, 38 and 42 mph. One defiant driver even gunned his black pick-up truck to increase his speed when he saw me with my SLOW DOWN sign. The same happened mid Tuesday afternoon when I observed again for a short time, but did not tally speeds. The top speed, though, was 40 mph.
Between 4:30-5:15 p.m. Monday, I recorded 18 vehicles driving anywhere between 35-45 mph. I did not count the total number of vehicles driving southbound on Willow. But suffice to say that, along this busy street, traffic was steady, if not heavy.
Tuesday morning I was back on the sidewalk again with my sign at 7:40 a.m., when people are mostly driving to work and school. Within the first 10 minutes, I noted seven vehicles traveling between 35-38 mph. Thirty minutes later, when I left my post, I’d tallied 12 motorists driving too fast, most in the upper 30s. I also noticed drivers on their cellphones both days, a violation of Minnesota state law.
Based on numbers displayed on the electronic sign, I could have issued 30 warnings or citations for driving over the speed limit. But that is not my job. It belongs to law enforcement. Councilor Rowan requested extra patrols along Willow Street. I am grateful for that.
If existing traffic laws are enforced and Willow Street becomes known as a “speed trap,” that could act as an effective deterrent to speeding.
Something needs to change. Willow Street needs to be seen as the neighborhood it is, not as the thoroughfare it has become for too many drivers. People live here, walk here, bike here, try to back safely out of their driveways and cross the street here.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But education, prevention, traffic law enforcement and police presence seem logical starters.
THOUGHTS? IDEAS? Please share specifics.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling