BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The written word is one of humanity’s oldest forms of communication, and over the centuries, governments and organizations have banned or attempted to ban many books in an attempt to control the flow of information in society. When a challenge is made to a controversial text, it is something local libraries have to deal with.
September 19th to 23rd is Banned Books Week, a week to celebrate and promote books that have been banned or challenged by censorship in the past.
“Banned Book Week is where the American Library Association wants to bring awareness to all the books that have been banned or challenged,” said Fahra Daredia, an associate with the Kern County Library.
When a book is challenged by someone, such as a parent who believes the book is inappropriate for children, the book is submitted to and reviewed by the American Library Association. The association then determines if it is to be labelled ‘banned’.
“It goes through a review policy,” explained Daredia. “It is still on the shelf for people to checkout during this review policy from their local library or institution, and then after that we just turn in the information to the American Library Association who keep track of the book being banned or challenged.”
When a book is labelled ‘banned,’ that doesn’t mean it’s removed from the library. Instead, the book is reclassified for placement in a different section of the library.
Heather Eddy, Regional Librarian for the West Side of the Kern County Library System, explained how a library patron might initiate a challenge to reclassify a book.
“When somebody has an issue with any of the titles that we have purchased here in the library, we have a form on our website called a Request to Reconsider or Reclassify,” said Eddy. The form to submit such a request is located on the Kern County Library website as part of the Collection Development Policy.
Many books that get labelled as ‘banned’ are still available at local libraries to be checked out. If you’re not sure whether a book is banned, you can always ask a librarian for assistance.
