Librarians are increasingly being asked to censor or remove books, and have also faced threats in discussions about the removal of books.
Research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip), the UK’s library and information association, found that a third of librarians had been asked by members of the public to censor or remove books, indicating that such incidents “had increased significantly in recent years”, according to Cilip’s chief executive, Nick Poole. The most targeted books involve empire, race and LGBTQ+ themes.
Some 82% of librarians said they were concerned about the increase in such requests. In response to the survey findings and increased number of requests for removal, Cilip is in the process of updating the national guidance for librarians in managing stock, spaces, events and activities.
Books have increasingly been at the forefront of the so-called culture wars. Librarians in the US have found themselves in regular conflict with rightwing readers over book stock; Republican state senator Rick Brattin is behind a law in Missouri criminalising anybody who makes visually explicit materials available at a school, citing books such as Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir Fun Home, as well as classics such as Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, when asked for examples of sexually explicit materials. Some Utah school libraries now require permission slips for students to borrow books covering LGBTQ+ themes, while Republicans and the far right have targeted drag story hours.
Meanwhile in the UK, there has been debate around books that have had language changed, including the removal of the N-word and the term “Oriental” from Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple novels, and the removal of the N-word and references to the ethnicity of minor characters in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.
Cilip and Libraries Connected, a charity that represents public libraries, said librarians are aware of discussions taking place around outdated language in books, and this is affecting their jobs in different ways.
“Some of the public debate is reaching librarians,” Poole said. “We’ve heard reports of requests to remove materials that deal with race and empire and Britain’s colonial heritage.”
“We’ve even had a round table with some librarians who’ve received personal threats of violence around their work on decolonising collections, or balancing that historical perspective in their collections. Part of our job is to maintain book stock that tells the whole of that story and to be unafraid in telling that story,” he added. “No librarian should ever be in fear of their wellbeing or safety as a result of doing their job for the public.”
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Poole said the other big area where librarians had received requests for removals was books with LGBTQ+ themes or characters. Isobel Hunter, chief executive of Libraries Connected, said that while some library managers have told the group they have had very few requests for the removal of titles, they have been receiving a large number of freedom of information requests, primarily from media organisations.
The result, she said, is that librarians are having to take time away from their primary job to answer these requests. “There is no such thing as censorship in public libraries,” said Hunter. “We don’t know of any libraries that have trigger warnings.”
Lucy Banks, reading development manager at Libraries Unlimited, a charity that manages libraries in Devon and Torbay, said: “We don’t censor, and we’re pleased to have that role within society as a hub of trusted information.
“We’re not getting the complaints but we are aware of those wider conversations, and indeed, they do sometimes crop up in the library,” she added. “We’re really supportive of everyone’s rights, regardless of background, lifestyle, gender or age – we see it as our fundamental job to make our libraries as warm and welcoming for as many people as possible.”
Cilip’s updated guidance for librarians on how to deal with requests for the removal of books is due to be released publicly in May. “We want to get past this period of culture war and politics and really focus on the job in hand,” said Poole. “It continues to be true that it just takes a spark in a children’s book to inspire a young person to go on and do something brilliant, and that’s what we want to focus on doing.”