“You bestowed upon me the greatest honor you could. Greater than that of any proclamation,” Kate Lindley (‘25) announced, voice full of gratitude and pride. The Hanover County Board of Supervisors watched on, alongside other Girl Scouts getting celebrated for their great achievement: A Gold Award, the highest honor for any Girl Scout in America, that is awarded for profound passion projects led by scouts. But there was a sinister glint in the eyes of the Board members and Lindley’s words carried a prickle of indignation. She added onto her statement, “You have shown the world that you are afraid to call something what it is, be that a banned book or a ‘de-selected’ one.”

Ironically, the Board of Supervisors had censored the very project meant to combat censorship.

For the Gold Award, Lindley worked on a project aimed at tackling recent book censorship in Hanover County. Hanover County started out with ousting 19 books from school libraries in June of last year and has now culminated in 100 books. So, in response, Lindley established “banned book nooks” in numerous small businesses that offered free copies of banned books for people to borrow. “The banned book nooks were a way to both protect the banned books from vandalism, and also to support local businesses,” said Lindley. On April 25th, these book nooks had over 438 books; now, with recent media coverage, another 1,300 books have been added. “I really wanted to make the books accessible for anyone who might want to read them across Hanover county. [It’s] important for teens to have access to this literature to understand themselves, their community, and the diversity of the world around them.”

For this outstanding accomplishment, the Hanover County Board of Supervisors announced a special proclamation congratulating Lindley for her work. However, in the proclamation, there was nothing that stated the books were banned, censored, or removed in any way, shape, or form. Furthermore, they didn’t mention where any of the book nooks were located, merely that they were “available outside Hanover County Public School Libraries.” Lindley confirmed that the given statement was altered from the original statement she handed in. 

“They decided to censor my submitted summary because they disagree with my project’s stance on censorship. They believe they have the right and responsibility to censor what high schoolers are reading despite the fact that they have not read any of the banned titles in their entirety,” Lindley explained on why their submitted proclamation was censored. But, despite the Board’s manipulation, residents of Hanover that were present to support Lindley spoke up in support of her work and gave a standing ovation to her brave retort. 

Lindley aims to continue her efforts by adding more book nooks across Hanover, distributing banned books at up-coming festivals, and circulating books through book clubs. For more information and direct requests for banned books, DM @Free_to_Read on Instagram!