Here’s a list “Fifty Shades of Grey” was destined to make: The books most likely to be removed from school and library shelves.
On Monday, E L James’ multimillion selling erotic trilogy placed No. 4 on the American Library Association‘s annual study of “challenged books,” works subject to complaints from parents, educators and other members of the public. The objections: Offensive language, and, of course, graphic sexual content.
No. 1 was a not a story of the bedroom, but the bathroom, Dav Pilkey’s “Captain Underpants” books (Offensive language, unsuited for age group), followed by Sherman Alexie‘s prize-winning “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit), and Jay Asher’s “Thirteen Reasons Why”(Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide). Also on the list, at No. 10, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” (Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence).
“It’s pretty exciting to be on a list that frequently features Mark Twain, Harper Lee, and Maya Angelou,” Pilkey said in a statement. “But I worry that some parents might see this list and discourage their kids from reading ‘Captain Underpants,’ even though they have not had a chance to read the books themselves.”
The library association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.” The office received 464 challenges last year, a jump of more 25 percent from 2011, but still low compared to the 1980s and ’90s. Exact numbers, including how many books were actually pulled, are hard to calculate. The association has long believed that for every complaint registered, 4-5 go unreported by libraries, and that some librarians may restrict access in anticipation of objections.
“One reason we think the number went up in 2012 is that we made challenges easier to report by including a portal on our Web page,” said Barbara M. Jones, director of the OIF.
The challenged books list was included in the library association’s annual “State of the Libraries” report (http://tinyurl.com/salr2013) which examines how libraries are responding to budget cuts and the financial advice they offer for patrons during hard economic times.
The “Fifty Shades” books were released last spring and public libraries in Georgia, Florida and elsewhere soon pulled the racy romance trilogy or decided not to order the books, saying they were too steamy or too poorly written. Local library representatives at the time denounced the
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