NPL Staff Read Banned Books

Caitlin, NPL shelver and technical services staffer, with Animal Farm by George Orwell.  Animal Farm has spent a great deal of time on challenged lists; although considered one of the top 100 novels of the 20th century [link], it has had a difficult history, including:

• A Wisconsin survey revealed in 1963 that the John Birch Society had challenged the novel's use; it objected to the words "masses will revolt." In 1968, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship conducted a comparable study in New York State English classrooms. Its findings identified the novel on its list of "problem books"; the reason cited was that "Orwell was a communist."
• Suppressed from being displayed at the 1977 Moscow, Russia International Book Fair.
• A survey of censorship challenges in the schools, conducted in DeKalb County for the period of 1979 to 1982, revealed that the novel had been objected to for its political theories.
• Banned from Bay County's four middle schools and three high schools in Panama City, FL by the Bay County school superintendent in 1987. After 44 parents filed a suit against the district claiming that its instructional aids policy denies constitutional rights, the Bay County School Board reinstated the book, along with sixty-four others banned.
• Banned from schools in the United Arab Emirates, along with 125 others in 2002.  The Ministry of Education banned it on the grounds that it contains written or illustrated material that contradicts Islamic and Arab values—in this text, pictures of alcoholic drinks, pigs, and other "indecent images."

Randi, Technical Services supervisor, enjoys Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (try it on audio!).  Number 35 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009, it is the first in a 10-book series, plus launched a spin-off series of (so far) three additional titles.

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