As a career librarian, it’s no surprise that Cordelia Howard is passionate about books. When a curious mind and broad interests in history, political science and literature caused her to veer from her original goal of being a theater set designer, a mentor observed that Cordelia’s “very eclectic background” would be useful as a librarian. “I have always thought it was great to make a difference for society,” she recalls. Cordelia did just that at Long Beach Public Library for nearly three decades (she retired as Director of Library Services in 1998).
Introducing people to books that would inspire them seemed like a noncontroversial endeavor, which is why she’s astonished to find some of her favorite books are on the list of books most frequently banned. “To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye—books that were considered classics when I was young are now being questioned,” she says.
Just as she had profited from reading across many disciplines, Cordelia realized how much readers benefit from reading books by people with backgrounds different from their own. “For 30 years, I’ve belonged to Literary Women. Its Long Beach Festival of Women Authors started when two local women looked at high school reading lists and were alarmed to find that almost none of the required reading was by female authors. We’ve put on an annual conference about women writers, to bring women writers and young women writers to the attention of readers because we believed that surely, there were more women writers than Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen.”
One talented writer that came to Cordelia’s attention was Toni Morrison. “I read The Bluest Eye in the 1970s as a branch librarian. It opened up a world to me of a young Black girl who though she was ugly and wished for blue eyes.” Cordelia also loved The Color Purple, and of course, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. All of these novels are written from the perspective of (and describe the experiences of) young women. They are also on the “Most Frequently Banned and Challenged Books” list, as compiled by the American Library Association (ALA).
“Unfortunately,” Cordelia relates, “censorship in the English-speaking world goes back to 1601. It rears its ugly head more than we would think…In the past, according to ALA, there would be complaints about one title. Now, there are numerous complaints about numerous titles. I believe we have a right to read and kids have a right to read.”
This conviction led Cordelia to offer a special gift to the LBPL Foundation: she will match every dollar given to the Books Unbanned initiative, up to $10,000.
“Books Unbanned is getting to young people where they live and read now, which is e-books. I want to get this particular initiative off the ground. It’s important that we stand up for the freedom to read. The library bill of rights is framed around…the people’s right to read what they want to. I hope every young person gets an e-library card and it opens up a new world to them: a new opportunity to read and to think and to be exposed to many other new ideas, or reflections of their own world.”
Cordelia is most excited about the fact that it opens up so many opportunities for young people to have access to new materials. “There will always be challenges,” she observes, “but there will always be people who champion libraries.” We are grateful that Cordelia is leading the charge.
