Banned book vending machine opens in Meridian

Aug 16, 2023

Chelsea Major and Shelley Searle stand near a “banned book” vending machine during a launch party at Loose Screw Brewery in Meridian on July 26.

MERIDIAN — Some people protest with signs. Two Meridian women are making their voices heard through a book-stocked vending machine.

After the Concerned Citizens of Meridian gave the Meridian Library a list of over 50 books it wanted to restrict access to last year, Shelley Searle, who runs two vending machines in the Treasure Valley, and Chelsea Major, who started a banned book club with Megan Parker in 2022 and does pop-up book selling with Pearl House Collective, decided to team up to create a banned book vending machine.

“Our bookstore had been doing pop-ups, but we really saw a need to create a book club, focusing on those books that were being banned and really just creating a space where people can come read the book, and we can talk authentically about what’s challenging in it,” Major said. “Books aren’t always easy, but we think that books are meaningful and just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you should ban it.”

The book club has been meeting every month since the summer of 2022, Major said. People can join the book club on Instagram @boisebannedbookclub. The club pulls books that were banned in the Nampa School District or books that have been challenged in Idaho, specifically Meridian.

Likewise, the vending machine features books that have been banned historically or have been under fire in recent years, among things like bookmarks and earrings.

On Wednesday evening, the vending machine opened for customers at Loose Screw Beer Co. in Meridian.

“These are books that touch on things that are integral to being a human: trauma, sexuality, understanding yourself, understanding your body, understanding differences across race and gender,” Major said. “All of these are just ways we walk within the world. When we try to hide or act like these things don’t happen, we aren’t fixing the problem, we’re skirting around it.”

Since reading a majority of the books under fire, Major came to the conclusion that those fighting for book banning don’t have an understanding of what the books actually discuss.

“Naysayers aren’t looking at what the story is trying to tell people — they pick and choose things and take pieces out of context,” Major said.

The vending machine is an attempt to bring books to the forefront of local conversations and make books more accessible to people.

“It’s all about community at the end of the day,” Major said. “We don’t really have any bookstores that have a community space where you can just hang out, come up with a business idea, meet up with a friend and grab a coffee.”

The accessibility piece is critical — nothing in the vending machine is over $20, Searle said.

“You can’t fix what you don’t know is what is going on,” Searle said. “It’s the little things in life that make us happy. We want to bring back that sense of wonder and remind people that you can take action and part of that is by buying these things and supporting locals, supporting banned books.”

Searle’s vending machines get their inventory from fair.com and local artists, but this vending machine is a little different. Books were also sourced from local thrift stores and Major’s collection.

“Anytime someone is trying to restrict access to knowledge, it’s something that we should be looking at,” Searle said.

While Searle is not generally into literature, during this vending venture, she’s been dabbling in banned novels. After several reads, she hasn’t been able to understand what is so risqué — a sentiment shared by members of Major’s banned book club.

“I can’t imagine banning a book or signing a petition to ban a book that you haven’t even read. How can you make an opinion on something you haven’t even read?” Kim Siegenthaler, banned book club member, said. “If you’re going to ban it, you should have read it.”

Most of the books Siegenthaler has read in the club are young adult books that include LGBTQ+ community members.

“I think that definitely scares a lot of people, especially, I hate to say, conservatives that are kind of close-minded to that kind of stuff,” Siegenthaler said. “But we can’t just sweep it under the rug either. It’s a reality. So let’s learn about it. Let’s accept it.”

Some books are inappropriate for students in grade school but are appropriate for high schoolers, Siegenthaler said, and therefore shouldn’t be banned from school districts entirely.

“I think it’s really important to read the books that are being challenged and make an opinion for me and my family,” Siegenthaler said. “I’ve been very well educated on a lot of books that I may not have read. ... Knowledge is power.”

The banned book vending machine is something Siegenthaler is glad to have locally available.

“It lets people know what books are being challenged and the authors and having those books available, especially if you can’t get them in your high school or your library,” Siegenthaler said.

The book club has held several meetings at the Loose Screw, where Searle pitched the idea for a vending machine to owner Mike Garcia.

“We’re excited to be a part of it,” Garcia said. “It really fits in with our clientele. We’re very family friendly here, so I think the mix fits well with our crowd.”

Several book clubs meet at the Loose Screw too, so incorporating books into the ambiance doesn’t hurt, Garcia said.

The vending machine is meant to provide something for everyone, even though it centers around a local political issue, Searle said.

“There’s a lot of things going on in the U.S. that are challenging right now, and we don’t have to agree on them, but we should be able to have a dialogue,” Major said. “We do have to be neighbors, we do have to be civil and I think we don’t want to lose that discourse and that ability to be empathetic and kind humans.”

Originally published on rexburgstandardjournal.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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