USA: Objections to some books are on the rise

Objections to some books are on the rise
<http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009905310305>

Libraries try to balance parents' rights to challenge books with others'
rights to read what they wish

By Claudia Pinto
THE TENNESSEAN

The box of books Diane Chen stumbled onto at John F. Kennedy Middle School's
library was simply labeled, "Inappropriate to Shelf."

The school's new librarian wondered, " 'Are they worn out? Is there something
wrong with them? Are they potentially hazardous chemical journals for
would-be-terrorists?' "

The answer was none of the above. Scared that the books — such as The American
Heritage Dictionary 3rd edition, The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe,
and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — could trigger a book challenge,
a former employee had pulled them off the shelves.

Chen put all 50 of them back up.

Book challenges — written complaints, filed with a public or school library,
requesting that materials be removed or restricted — increased nationally from
420 in 2007 to 513 in 2008. The Library Association of America recently
released its list of the 10 most-challenged books of 2008, which includes New
York Times best-seller The Kite Runner and the teen drama series-turned-TV
show Gossip Girl.

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