by Richard
Every year, the dudes and dudettes at the American Library Association compile a list of the most challenged books in libraries across the country, including both public libraries and school libraries.
It certainly makes for some sad reading. Sad in that there are people out there who’s strength in their own convictions are so weak that they think there can’t be any challenge to them anywhere in the world.
Really that’s all this is. The whole canard of “. . . but what about the children?” is merely a shorthand way of saying, “This subject matter makes me uncomfortable and provokes unusual thoughts in my head. Since I think it’s a dangerous challenge to my daily assumptions, I must make sure no one else has a chance to hear these ideas because they might also begin to think contrary to how I want everyone to think.” That’s pretty powerful shorthand, that.
As a First Amendment absolutist (I believe you should have the right to say what you want, in a public space, anytime and for any reason you want.), this sort of thing really chaps my behind. So, of course, every year, as soon as the list comes out, I go to my library and check out one or two of the books for a quick read and then go purchase a couple of more to donate to the library.
What? I don’t like bullies and I don’t like people telling other people what they can and can’t read.
Book banning efforts were alive and well in 2011. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received 326 reports regarding attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves. The Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2011 include the following titles; each title is followed by the reasons given for challenging the book:
1) ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
2) The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
Nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
3) The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
Anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
4) My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
Nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
5) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
6) Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
7) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
8) What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
Nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
9) Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
10) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Offensive language; racism
*A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.
That’s a pretty mixed bag there. I’ve read the Hunger Games book, as well as the classics like Brave New World and To Kill a Mockingbird so it looks like I’m going to be reading some teen chick lit. eek! Ah, well. Time to broaden my horizons, I guess.
The sad thing is just looking at these book choices and the problems people have with them. I mean, To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic story about the horrible costs and dangers of racism. It needs to have offensive language and racism there if the reader is to understand the dangers. Sheesh.
The rest of these, well, just take a look. Most of them involve sex, as if sex were something to be hidden away in a dark closet and never referred to unless someone is in the middle of marital chores like procreating. Someone really challenged a book because it had sex education? Dude, if you don’t like it, don’t let your child read it. Don’t try to ban it.
We used to have a culture that was all about individuals taking responsibility for their own actions. Now, it seems, we’re full of people who want to take choice away from themselves and from others.
Well, I’m going to try and change that one book at a time. Join me, won’t you, dudes? Go read a challenged book. Donate one to your local library. You’ll be glad you did.
