BANNED BOOKS
CENSORSHIP IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Since the first book ever banned in North America in 1637,
for sympathetic views of Native Americans,
the practice has continued to this day. Historically, the term
“banned,” meant the removal of a book from library shelves
and academic curriculums by different levels of government,
preventing the reader from being able to find and read the book.
“Even then, such banning and restriction would only raise
awarenessand curiosity about that book,” said Tammara Webber,
New York Timesbestseller of the Contours of the Heart series.
“The readers that it had been restricted to would likely find pirated
copies, if not the actual book for sale.” Though in the past, the books including Naked Lunch, Lolita and The Hoax of the Twentieth Century were banned by various levels of the government, the practice of removing written works by the Canadian and United States is uncommon. Now, though books are still regulated and banned all over the world, most of North America’s banning’s comes from complaints and requests of removal to libraries by people concerned by books content.
Every year libraries across Canada and the United States receive requests to remove a book based on a verity of different reasoning’s from inappropriate themes to religious beliefs. The application then goes to the library board where it is reviewed and either denied or accepted.
Even with the best intentions in mind, censoring a book could contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights or the United States Constitution. According to Webber, the issue with censorship has always boiled down to one issue: Who decides what is and isn't acceptable?
“If I didn't want my child to read something they'd been assigned to read in school because it went against my beliefs, I would request that my child read something else to complete that assignment,” she said. “It would not be my place to decide what other people's children should or should not read, and it is no one else's place to decide what I find acceptable for my child to read.”
While some libraries like the Oakville Public Library can’t recall the last book that was banned in their collection, written works are still banned all over both U.S. and Canada every year.
According to library CEO, Charlotte Meissner, The Oakville Public Library Board endorses the Ontario Library Association’s Statement on the Intellectual Rights of the Individual. “The statement charges libraries with the responsibility to guarantee the rights of free expression,” said Meissner. “These principles are to make sure that the library collection meets the needs of the entire community and does not cater to any one individual, group or cause.”
The American Library Association and the Book Periodical Council, both which advocate for international literary freedoms, dedicate a week to celebrate the sovereignty to read and open access to information.
In Canada, Freedom to Read, which happens for a week every February since it was founded
in 1984 was created as a way to monitor censorship and the freedom of expression in Canada.
While the idea behind the United States’ Banned Books Week that occurs for a week in September came from a display that happened at the American Book Sellers Association in 1982. According to Nanette Perez, program officer with the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, there was a display of cages with caution tape all around them and inside there were books.
“Books like the Diary of Anne Frank, Doris Day’s, Her Own Story and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. People were like ‘what going on here, why are these books in cages?’” she said. “When they looked inside people could see why they wanted to ban Anne Frank because it was such a downer, and Doris Day because the contents were shocking and I Know Why The Bird Caged Sings because it preach bitterness against whites.”
Like Banned Books Week, Freedom to Read Week promotes the reading of banned and the most frequently challenged books of that year.
When a library board receives a request for removal and they agree that is should not be removed from the library’s collection and the removal has been denied, that is when a book becomes a challenged book.
Notable written works like the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey which has been the most challenged book for the last two years running because of offensive language and violence, have been challenged over the years in Canada and the United States.
According to the ALA, 307 books were reportedly challenged last year, with novels like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins being disputed over because of religious viewpoints and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky because of homosexuality and being sexually explicit.
“Censorship harms everyone, not just one age group,” said Perez. “It affects your basic human right to have access to information that you should have access to because it is written as a law.”
While young adult and fiction novels of all genres are frequently challenged in North America, children’s books also endure large amounts of criticism.
The book And Tango Makes Three, a picture book depicting the true story of two male penguins that adopted an egg at the New York City’s Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s was challenged in Albert in 2009 when parents and teachers complained that it held homosexual undertones and debateable content.
Between 2010 and 2011, the Harry Potter series received multiple challenges all across Canada on the bases that it reportedly promotes Satanism and occultism.
According to data collected by Freedom to Read in 2011, 27 children and young adult titles were challenged in Canada for reasons such as: sexually explicit material, offensive language and homosexuality.
“The person who wants to censor a book is doing it out of genuine concern for their child,” said Perez. “They fear that their children will be exposed to harmful materials. But who gets to decide that? It’s not one person who gets to decide that for everybody else.”
