Banned Books Week

Some of you may not know this, but Sept. 25-Oct. 2 is Banned Books Week here in the United States!

No, it's not a national holiday. It's actually sort of an awareness campaign that the American Library Association sponsors every year.

Awareness of what, you ask? Of things like the following list of titles:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

And so things become a bit clearer: These books are, in fact, the top ten most-challenged books of 2009.

It sounds kind of funny: what does "challenging" mean, anyway? What does this have to do with banned books?

A lot, in fact. "Challenge" is a word used to describe the process of requesting that a library remove a book from its shelves for various reasons unrelated to the book's physical condition or currency (how up-to-date it is). In other words, these are books that people want banned -- and these books got the most requests for removal out of all challenged books in the United States last year.

Still sounds kind of vague, huh? After all, look at the list again. And Tango Makes Three? That's a children's book about penguins! The Perks of Being a Wallflower? It's practically a Bible for adolescents and college students who don't quite fit in. To Kill a Mockingbird -- that's a classic! Ditto Catcher in the Rye. My Sister's Keeper kind of makes sense; I've heard that it makes people cry. But The Color Purple? That's another significant classic in 20th-Century American literature.

That's just from the 2009 list. Check out this list of classics that have been banned or challenged at one time or another; there are some real eye-poppers in there, like Winnie-the-Pooh.

Why are they challenged? Luckily, ALA keeps track of the reasons, as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom. Here's the same list again, this time with the reasons for each challenge:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

So someone doesn't like And Tango Makes Three because it's about a pair of male penguins who raise a child, which might touch on a topic he or she feels is not appropriate for the children who would read it. What happens?

Usually, they go to their library and ask that the library stop making that book available, through means that vary from library to library -- some have forms you can fill out, while others just write down the book title and take it to the person or committee who's responsible for making decisions about challenged books. Then that decision-making entity figures out how to respond to the complaint: Should the book be moved to a more appropriate section? Should we remove it entirely? Or should we do nothing?

Although I don't have statistics immediately to hand, I assume that in the majority of cases, the decision is to do nothing. If you've read even two or three of the books in that list above, you understand why. Yes, all of these complaints are true, but are they reasons to censor these books?

You may have hesitated before answering that last question for yourself. That hesitation is what makes life interesting for some librarians; there's no universal rule that says "This book MUST be removed from shelves if ... " Some libraries toss those complaints right into the trash; it's not their job to control what people can or can't read, regardless of age -- they just make the books available, and the rest is up to the readers. Other libraries rely on their own rules, like "gratuitousness" -- is this violence, language, or sexuality excessive? "Excessive" in whose opinion? Is it one of those things that you'll know when you see it, or is excessive violence quantifiable? How do you justify those kinds of decisions? Still others do pay attention to age-appropriateness; The Chocolate War sounds like a kids' book and might be in the library's catalog as such, but it is most definitely better-suited to teenagers. The gray areas go on and on ...

We don't do this because we think we know better than the people making the requests to remove books; all of this matters, because books that have been banned on moral, philosophical, religious, or political grounds are books that have been censored. Censorship is a bad thing; the First Amendment guarantees the right to express your opinion, and librarians play one of the most important supporting roles for this basic human right in our society. The flipside of the freedom of speech is the freedom to read, something that ALA strongly supports; not only do you have the right to express your opinion, you have the right to gain access to the printed opinions of others. This is called intellectual freedom, the freedom to ask questions and gain answers, and it's one of the most fundamental concepts underlying the establishment of a university. Universities don't just teach high-school kids how to do linear algebra or balance a checkbook until they're legally adults; those are important, yes, but we at the Library also offer a place where people are free to investigate any line of questioning they wish.

That's why Banned Books Week is relevant to the Gallaudet University Library, even though very few, if any, of our books are actually challenged; this is true for most other academic libraries. To learn more about Banned Books Week at the Gallaudet University Library, come in and look at the display table in front of the first-floor entrance by Peet Hall, where Elizabeth Henry's set up a fantastic display of banned books.

Heck, take one home with you if you like.