A/N: You can find this activity here: https://archerslibrary.com/2023/05/22/desensitizing-children-to-crimes-related-to-witchcraft-and-other-reasons-for-censorship-a-book-review-of-hit-list-for-children-2-frequently-challenged-books-by-becker-stan-and-pistolis/

You can find all of my professional development activities here: https://archerslibrary.com/librarianship/

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Description of Activity

For my professional development on the topic of censorship, I selected a book from the American Library Association to review. It was Hit list for children: 2 frequently challenged books by Becker, Stan and Pistolis (2002). Although it was not especially current, it was relevant to the topic of censorship of books for children and young adults as it brought together a myriad of reasons books may be challenged. I chose to do a review as I already knew that having a clearly developed collections policy can help to answer complaints about books (Floegel, 2018, p. 335) and that some libraries will limit access and exposure to books of a sensitive or offensive nature (Rumberger, 2019), but did not fully understand the reasons behind the phenomenon of book challenges.

What did I learn?

I learned that, while censorship is usually thought of as a matter of intellectual freedom (Bawden & Robinson, 2012, p. 235), when it comes to children and young adults, it is the responsibility of adults to determine what is appropriate for what age. However, many parents, educators and concerned citizens can take the idea of appropriateness too far and attempt to censor books that are generally considered safe-to-read for a variety of reasons (Becker et al., 2002). For example, books like The Witches by Roald Dahl, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, or Guess What? By Mem Fox were challenged for ‘desensitizing children to crimes related to witchcraft’, while other books were challenged for showing children being disobedient towards adults, teaching sex education to young adults, or including profanity (Becker et al., 2002). The more bizarre was a challenge to Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson for having ‘an elaborate fantasy world [the challengers] thought might lead to confusion’ (Becker et al., 2002), teaching me that censorship challenges can come in all manner of guises.

How was the activity relevant to my professional practice working with children/young adults?

The book review activity was relevant to my professional practice because I am now better prepared to answer censorship challenges that will inevitably be put to the children and young adult’s collections with which I may work. Although I may have a collections policy with which to refer (Floegel, 2018, p. 335) and the library where I work may have its own restricted or banned books (Rumberger, 2019), I am now able to understand the reasons why this is the situation. I will be able to meet the concerns of parents, educators and others about why certain books are present, and answer the questions of children and young adults as to why certain books are not present.

What gaps in my knowledge were revealed and how might they be filled?

The gaps in my knowledge that were revealed by this professional development activity were that I still do not grasp the full range of reasons that books may be challenged. I was surprised by some of the reasons identified by Becker et al. (2002). I believe these gaps may be filled by continuing to research example cases of censorship challenges, not only in the USA but around the world, to better understand who wants to censor books for children and young adults and why.

References

Bawden, D., & Robinson, L. (2012). Chapter 11: Information society? Introduction to information science. London: Facet.

Becker, B. C., Stan, S., & Pistolis, D. R. (2002). Hit list for children 2 frequently challenged books. American Library Association.

Floegel, D. (2018). Ethics in reference. In K. A. Cassell & U. Hiremath (Eds.), Reference and information services: An introduction (4th ed., pp. 335-346). Neal-Schuman.

Rumberger, A. (2019). The elementary school library: Tensions between access and censorship. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 20(4), 409-421.  https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1463949119888491 

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You can find the activity here: https://archerslibrary.com/2023/05/22/desensitizing-children-to-crimes-related-to-witchcraft-and-other-reasons-for-censorship-a-book-review-of-hit-list-for-children-2-frequently-challenged-books-by-becker-stan-and-pistolis/

You can find all of my professional development activities here: https://archerslibrary.com/librarianship/