Think you can match the reasons books were banned and/or challenged with the correct books?  The library’s banned books display lets you try your hand at just that.  The display features 29 books that have been recently banned at school libraries, public libraries, and institutes of higher education in the United States.  The books are in black bags in the Reference area of the library, each of which is labeled with the reason the book was banned or challenged.  Which book was considered “trashy pulp pornography?”  Which author penned “a masterpiece of satanic deception?”  And while you’re inspecting the books and their unflattering labels, consider this: is there any legitimate reason for banning a book?

Most of the people who ban books seem to be most interested in upholding values based on religion and decency.  On the surface, these can seem like noble intentions.  But when ideals held by a group infringe upon the rights of individuals, then a greater value is being compromised—freedom of speech.

I think it’s especially interesting when the reason a person gives for challenging or banning a book is simply a statement of fact about the book.  Yes, “The Land,” for which Mildred D. Taylor won the 2002 Coretta Scott King Author Award, “contains a racial epithet.”  Taylor is African American, and writes young adult novels set in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  She focuses on the daily life of black families in her books.  As Taylor says, “In writing The Land, I have followed closely the stories told by my father and others about my great-grandparents.”  I’m sad to say that I’m sure that racial epithets are a part of Taylor’s life and her family’s stories.  In that context, why would a racial epithet be grounds for banning the book?  It just seems like educators are missing some very teachable moments here.

Many times when a book gets challenged by a library patron, the “solution” is to move the book into another collection (where it may never be found by the people seeking it), or to even further restrict access by not shelving the book at all.  In those types of cases, patrons have to walk up and ask for the book in order to even browse it.  In turn, the patron is not likely to know about the book, and is even less likely to check it out because of fear of being judged.  The library can already be an intimidating place to many people—restricting access to materials on sensitive topics just heightens that anxiety.  That’s why I like this display—it puts all those books out, front and center, and encourages people to pick them up and read them.

–Adrian Pauw, Public Services

Black Bags in Foley Center