I have worked at my library for a little over a year and half and we haven’t had too much trouble with controversial books in that time. The one notable exception is the book Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. Gender Queer is a graphic memoir released in 2019. By 2021 it was the most banned book of the year, especially in school libraries. It recounts the author’s journey of self-discovery of their gender identity as non-binary and their sexuality.
We had a patron challenge our having this book in our collection. I do not know what their specific issue with it was, as we have many other books in the YA section with LGBTQIA+ themes but said patron has not challenged any of those. Maybe because the word Queer was in the title it more readily drew their attention. After the patron filled out a formal complaint our director decided to move Gender Queer from the YA graphic novels section to the adult non-fiction section. He notified the patron of the change, and we haven’t heard from them since. We have also since moved all the graphic novels out of the YA section and over to a wall by the adult fiction section.
While this was a successful compromise that seemed to appease the patron, I worry that by hiding it back in the adult non-fiction section we’ve made it more difficult to find for those who might truly benefit from it. After all, hiding something doesn’t make it stop existing. Teens and young adults are going to continue to struggle to come to terms with their gender identity/sexuality. All we’ve done is hide a resource that could potentially make that struggle a little less onerous and a little less lonely.
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Where: Markle Public Library, Markle Indiana (A branch of the Huntington Public Library) When: Monday, February 27th, 5:00pm – 6:00pm ES...
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Author: M.C. Beaton Title: Death of a Gossip Genre: Mystery P ublication Date: 1985 Number of Pages: 2 05 ...
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I have worked at my library for a little over a year and half and we haven’t had too much trouble with controversial books in that time. The...
Tasha,
ReplyDeleteI've seen this book come up as well, and I agree with your thoughts. It makes me upset to think that administrators and families about including those kids who can identify with this book. I do not know what guidelines your library does when it comes to challenged materials, but while its not a complete win its also not a loss. I would rather see a book get moved to a different area, rather than removed completely from the collection itself.
I am shocked to see that all YA graphic novels were moved to adult. Not all graphic novels are "bad" in a sense, but this could be to ease many people, but one is speaking on behalf of an entirety. I think we both can agree there will never be 100% agreement on what materials should go where, but judgement will not stop us as librarians to give the best recommendations to patrons.
That is definitely one controversial title. Ours is also housed in the adult graphic novel section - but not because of a patron complaint. Thankfully we still have several thousand teen graphic novels in the teen area and many are LGBTQ focused. Full points!
ReplyDeleteTasha,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your discussion on Gender Queer I decided to browse my own public library to see 1) if we have a copy and 2) where it's currently housed within our collection. Our copy is housed in the Adult Graphic Novel section, though I'm not sure if that's because of a past patron complaint or if that's where we just chose to put it based on its classification. Our catalogers and selectors are responsible for that.
I agree with Bre in that moving the book to a different area at least keeps it in the collection but, like you, I worry that it being buried with the adult non-fiction may cause it to circulate less and those who need a book like this on such an important topic may not be able to find it.
Best,
Gabby