Friday, May 3, 2024
Whether or not some books should be banned or all should be available - and to whom they should be available - is an ongoing debate, and the recent Banned Books Week, which takes place the last week in September, helps draw attention to the issue.
During a Sept. 22 presentation to the Gatesville Exchange Club, librarian Faye Nichols with the Gatesville Public Library spoke about Banned Books Week. She said the event traces its start to 1963, and libraries began to mark the occasion in 1982. The American Library Association opened its Office of Intellectual Freedom.
"It's something we call attention to every year," Nichols said. "People raise concerns all the time. It's not too much of an issue in Gatesville. Sometimes people raise concerns. Harry Potter was one in the late 1990s because of witchcraft and spells."
As a result of those concerns, the Gatesville library originally placed Harry Potter books in the adult section, rather than in the children's section.
While public libraries sometimes receive complaints or concerns about the books available, Nichols said it is public school libraries which face more issues.
"In some schools, it's not so much the material itself as it is the age group the material is presented to," she said. "It's not just books, but library displays and films that may be challenged. There are a lot of different reasons that challenges are made."
Of the challenges to books available in libraries, 44% are directed to school libraries, 37% to public libraries, 18% to schools themselves and 1% in academic or other libraries.
Many of the most recent challenged books have materials that are related to sexual issues, profanity, violence or the use of derogatory terms.
Most of the books that are challenged are those directed toward younger audiences that parents, grandparents or community members consider inappropriate for that age group, and it is up to parents to monitor what their children read and are interested in, Nichols said.
Asked what kind of freedom individual librarians have to place books in libraries, Nichols said there is a collection development policy for the Gatesville Public Library that indicates the books available should reflect the community and its values.
"I have pretty much complete discretion," she said. "I have a lot of requests to buy books and consider doing so when I believe there will be a general interest in them."
JoAnn Sugg, a retired Gatesville teacher, said each school district has its own policy when it comes to library books.
Nichols said last year a state representative sent out a list of 800 books to school districts wanting to know if those districts had those books in their libraries, and asking them to remove them if they did.
"Some were medical encyclopedias," Nichols said.
Among books which have been banned are "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Charlotte's Web" (because the pig in the story talked) and "Alice in Wonderland."
"We do carry the ‘Twilight’ series that some parents may not want their kids to read, and that's at the parents' discretion," Nichols said.
Nichols said libraries are designed to offer materials that cater to different interests, and that not every book or film available is intended to appeal to everyone.
"I personally wouldn't want to read everything in our library and you wouldn't either," she said. "It's intended for the community as a whole, and different people have different interests."
Anyone who has a concern about a book or material available in a library can fill out a form to challenge that item.
"In response we would form a committee and get five to seven committee members to read the book, come back together and make a decision," Nichols said. "In schools, it would go before the school board which would decide what to do.
"Part of the problem is some libraries push books onto kids that are not age appropriate. You need to pay attention to what your kids read and if you don't approve, don't let them check it out."
Nichols said she hasn't had a formal challenge, but that she did have the Harry Potter books questioned several years ago.
Nichols has served as librarian in Gatesville for 27 years. Before that, she worked in the Temple Public Library for five years and for two years in the medical library at Scott & White Hospital.
