Works by authors including Raymond Briggs, David McKee and Jules Verne have been removed from public libraries after a single customer complaint.
The Times sent freedom of information requests to 204 councils responsible for public libraries. Of those, 163 responded, 17 did not hold the required information and 24 did not respond.
The analysis revealed that across the country at least 16 books were removed from library shelves in 11 councils following a single objection from a customer, parent or librarian.
Of the 16 books removed from public libraries, eight were due to complaints regarding racist or divisive” language, three for “inappropriate” sexual or violent content, three for concerns about potentially damaging health advice and two for outdated information.
There were at least an additional 48 separate book challenges in 29 councils but which did not result in the book’s removal.
Libraries also received dozens more complaints asking them to remove certain content in a wave of “book challenges” that one expert called the “tip of the iceberg” of increasingly widespread censorship.
All copies of the Marvel superhero comic book The Uncanny X-Men: The Trial of Magneto by Chris Claremont were removed from public libraries in Edinburgh because one parent made a complaint about the “use of the n-word” on one page.
Birmingham city council withdrew all copies of I Hate School by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross because a customer complained that the story of a young girl’s imaginary life at school showed illustrations of children about to be executed by hanging.
The book Billy Bonkers, the (Great) Beach Rescue was removed from libraries in Birmingham because one customer complained that one of the main characters showed an “inappropriate” interest in watching young women.
As if to demonstrate the problem of interpretation that is inherent to all forms of subjective censorship, an Essex a library removed David McKee’s Three Monsters (2005) from its shelves after a customer complained about its “divisive language”.
The correspondence reads in part: “[The customer] was very concerned and appalled by the language [in] this book at a time when we are encouraging children to be inclusive and diverse and it doesn’t send the right message to children. The particular section was: ‘Clear off’, shouted the second monster. ‘We don’t want any funny foreigner types here’.”
But had the customer actually read the book in full?
It’s true that Three Monsters tells of an “alien” monster who arrives at an idyll by the sea where he is treated deplorably by two other monsters who force him to do land clearing. But as Andersen Press, the publisher, describes the story: “Once he has done it, the horrible pair do tell him to go, and then watch in amazement as he dances back to his boat. The clever stranger has built himself his own personal little island with the earth and plants they told him to clear away.”
McKee was known for writing about serious topics in a humorous way, and certainly the moral of his iconic Elmer series of children’s books about Elmer the Elephant [“Elmer is not like the rest of the elephants in the jungle, he’s a multi-coloured patchwork elephant!”] was to embrace being different.
Books about LGBTQ+ topics or gender theory received the most challenges, often because the complainant perceived them as “advocating child harming procedures”.
Two books by Juno Dawson, author of This Book is Gay and You Need to Chill, received complaints in four councils for their discussion of gender and sexuality.
Dawson said: “I didn’t know about that attempt to remove my book from the library and it’s truly concerning that ‘book banning’ seems to be on the rise in the UK. Paradoxically these attempts always seem to be from people who consider themselves champions of free speech. I would hate to see UK librarians face the same harassment as their US counterparts, where the targeting of books, especially those with LGBTQ content, are under attack.”
In several cases books with LGBTQ+ or sexual content were moved from public display or the young adult section following a complaint from the public.
Abigail Shrier’s book Irreversible Damage was removed from the LGBTQ+ collection by West Berkshire council after a transgender group complained it contained unscientific claims and misinformation about gender dysphoria.
Attempts to ban books that are considered to contain controversial content have always existed. One need only think of the furore caused by DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
However, in recent years there has been an increasingly targeted and broadened effort to remove any book that may cause offence from public and school libraries.
Most public libraries in the UK follow guidance from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), which states that books should not be banned unless the title has been found to be unlawful.
CILIP guidance reads: “If the publication of such matter has not incurred penalties under the law it should not be excluded from libraries on any moral, political, religious or racial ground alone, to satisfy any sectional interest. The public is entitled to rely upon libraries for access to information and enlightenment upon every field of human experience and activity.”
It is entirely voluntary to follow these guidelines and libraries are ultimately responsible for their own stock policy and decisions on how to deal with complaints from the public.
