Turner Memorial Library to observe Banned Books Week

17 years ago
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer

    PRESQUE ISLE – In observance of Banned Books Week, officials at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library have created a display they hope will get people to think about their freedoms.

    “This is the 26th annual celebration,” said librarian Sonja Plummer-Morgan. “Generally we pass out something … some sort of information like a bookmark, and answer questions about Banned Books Week, but this is the first time – to my knowledge – that we’ve actually created a display as large as what we have created.
    “We basically turned our downstairs multi-purpose room into a banned and challenged books display,” she said. “We have the actual books themselves displayed in a variety of different, fun ways of getting the message across … everything from chains to caution tape. We tried to communicate that putting a prohibition on a book is serious business.”
    Created in 1982, Banned Books Week will be observed nationwide Sept. 29-Oct. 6. However, Plummer-Morgan said the local display will be up through Oct. 31. Banned Books Week 2007 has the theme, “Ahoy! Treasure Your Freedom to Read and Get Hooked on a Banned Book.”
    Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. The week is also endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
    The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received a total of 546 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. Public libraries, schools and school libraries report the majority of challenges to OIF.
    “Most Challenged” titles include the popular “Harry Potter” series of fantasy books for children by J.K. Rowling. The series drew complaints from parents and others who believe the books promote witchcraft to children.
    The challenges reported reflect a continuing concern with a wide variety of themes. Other “Most Challenged” titles include “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, for its use of language, particularly references to race; “It’s Perfectly Normal,” a sex education book by Robie Harris, for being too explicit, especially for children; and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, for the description of rape she suffered as a child.
    “Some of the books on display are specifically from Maine that were challenged, some of them were actually banned,” said Plummer-Morgan. “Some of the books are from lists and bibliographies nationwide that have been banned or challenged.”
    As librarian, Plummer-Morgan said she’s not surprised that people challenge books.
    “However, it always surprises me that families sometimes choose to make choices for other peoples’ families,” she said. “That always gives me a start. We – the library – don’t want to make choices for peoples’ families.”
    Plummer-Morgan said – to her knowledge – no book has ever been banned from the Turner Memorial Library, although people have filed complaints before.
    “There have been a few challenges … but very few have to go beyond library staff,” she said. “I think one in the past four years went to the trustees, but the person actually withdrew the application and chose not to take issue with it.
    “I don’t know of any book that has actually been removed from our library shelf,” said Plummer-Morgan.
    When books land on a challenged or banned list, library patrons tend to check it out.
    “Sales skyrocket, circulation skyrockets, and it creates a lot of buzz,” said Plummer-Morgan. “We have this marvelous, intellectual curiosity. When somebody calls attention to a book, generally what they want to have happen is the book to go away, but what ends up happening is donations of that book start pouring in. Sometimes its intended effect is turned on its head. There’s some irony in that.”
    Plummer-Morgan said her goal through Banned Books Week is to raise awareness of all books that have been challenged or banned.
    “We want to remind people that our First Amendment right is one of the tenets of our being,” she said. “There is something in every book that will offend someone. I would have to remove every book off my shelf in order to satisfy everybody. We’re celebrating the week, celebrating our freedom, and raising awareness that what is or isn’t OK for your family might be OK for another person’s family, and we celebrate choices. We encourage parents to pay attention to what their children are reading, and to make choices for themselves, but not other people.
    “I hope people come and see the display because there’s a lot of creativity that was put into it,” said Plummer-Morgan, “and it’s special that we’re connecting to a nationwide celebration. I hope people realize we do have the freedom to read, and that is such a wonderful tenets of our freedom. I hope people take away the sense that their community library is upholding their right to read and not making choices for them personally.”
    The Banned Books Week display will be available for viewing through Oct. 31 during regular library hours. Hours are 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.
    For more information, call the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library at 764-2571.

 

ImageStaff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
    SONJA PLUMMER-MORGAN, librarian at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle, poses with some of the books that are highlighted during Banned Books Week, which will be observed nationwide Sept. 29-Oct. 6. According to Plummer-Morgan, the library’s downstairs multi-purpose room features books that have either been banned or challenged in Maine or the United States displayed in “a variety of fun ways that communicate that putting a prohibition on a book is serious business.” The local display will be featured through Oct. 31.