Concern over banned books
Some readers may never know if Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort if the seventh book was suddenly taken off library shelves. But the “Harry Potter” series, according to the American Library Association’s Web site (www.ala.org), is one of the most frequently challenged books of the 21st century and has been part of the 3,000 book-removing attempts from 2000 to 2005 throughout the nation.
Ronald Jenkins, library director, said this issue doesn’t exist at the Logan Library.
“The only problem is not having enough of them,” Jenkins said. “We have several hundred people on the waiting list.”
Jenkins said only a handful of banned requests for books come through in about a year. And when compared to about 8,000 items checked out in a year, Jenkins said that handful doesn’t add up to many.
Any book has the chance to be challenged by someone who does not think it is suitable for readers.
Vaughn Larson, at Edith Bowen Laboratory School, said parents have commented in the past to him that they don’t want their kids to be reading “Harry Potter” books. However, Larson, media center director, said there has never been a request at the school to actually take it off the shelves.
“This is year number 20 for me, and I only had one parent who said they wanted a book taken off the shelf and that was ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry,” Larson said.
According to the American Library Associations’s Web site, www.ala.org, the top three reasons for books challenged to be banned are sexually explicit material, offensive language and unsuited to age group. The Web site further states parents are the largest group who challenge material in books. However, most challenges are unsuccessful, it states.
Larson said the No. 1 reason parents usually find is sexual content.
“Parents are more concerned about sex than violence,” he said. Banning books is a process where a book must first be challenged before it can be banned. A challenge requires paperwork to be filed and a committee review of the book, he said. At Edith Bowen, Larson said the first step is filling out a reconsideration form. This form asks if the person had read the book and asks for the person’s name. The form also states for the objection of the book, he said. Although each school district usually has a different form or policy, most of the requests for book banning are discussed by a school library committee, which can consist of the principal, librarians, PTA members and sometimes even students. This process can take somewhere up to a month, since all committee members need to read the book before coming to a decision.
“I think parents have a final say on their kids and what they read or not,” Larson said. “The librarian has the responsibility of choosing the best quality of literature for the library, but we also need to choose books that will circulate and that kids want to read. There’s a balance there.”
Larson also said it is very rare a book is taken off the shelf, even after it has been challenged.
“When the committee meets, they decide does this book meet any part of the curriculum?” Larson said.
If a book does meet any part of the curriculum, Larson said the book is considered safe and remains on the shelf.
Vicki Read, head of patron services at the Merrill-Cazier Library, said she thinks banning some books hinders possible valuable insight for readers.
“Yes, some are not appropriate for everyone to read, but I also realize as an academic institution, we need to provide materials that some people may find offensive,” Read said.
Although she would check just any book out to “someone off the street,” Read said she figures students at a university level should be able to pick out what they want to read and what they don’t want to read.
“I think typically what happens is a person wants something banned without ever having read the material, and they jump on the bandwagon, more or less,” she said. “They want something banned simply because of word of mouth and because someone said it’s a bad or good book.”
Author Judy Blume has had her fair share of censorship, having her book “Forever” be one of the 10 Most Challenged Books of 2005 due to sexual content and offensive language, according to the American Library Association as written at www.pbs.org.
The ALA Web site quotes Blume as saying, “(I)t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
Other banned or challenged books have included include “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger, “Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain, “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, and “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck.
Jenkins said libraries do not ban books. Instead, libraries take a proactive approach, he said, by trying to find materials appropriate or desirable for their community.
“We are not looking for what they don’t want,” he said.
“In America, there are all kinds of books and all kinds of library materials for every people,” Jenkins said. “And you know, we have freedom here in America, in the United States, that would indicate we shouldn’t ban those books, especially in a public library.”
-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu