Banned Books Welcome in the County

The beginning of fall is set aside each year by many libraries and booksellers as Banned Books Week, a project that challenges book censorship. Regularly, classic novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye, along with newer titles, are banned from schools and libraries on charges of indecency.

Freedom to read and exposing the public to diverse reading materials may not be an issue for Montgomery County, however. According to the week's website, the only recent event of attempted book banning in the entire state of Maryland took place in Harford County three years ago. Although records of books that may have been banned by county libraries and schools in the past aren't available, author Judy Blume once noted that Blubber may have been kept out of Montgomery County schools in 1980 because a character used the b-word.

Carol Legarreta, public services administrator for branch operations at Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) can't recall a time when any book was barred from the shelves in the 28 years that she's worked in the library system. That may be because the practice just doesn't happen in the county. 

"We serve a diverse population of 980,000 people. In a collection built to serve such a large, diverse population, it is to be expected that there will be material that some may find offensive," Legarreta told Patch. "MCPL works hard to create a balanced collection that meets the needs, interests and demands of this very diverse community."

Dr. Gail Bailey, director of school library media programs at MCPS, said that county schools base book selections on curriculum needs, not controversy. Dana Tofig, director of the public information office at MCPS, confirmed that the school system doesn't ban books. 

Both county operations curate book collections based on a number of factors and serving that "diverse community" is just one of them. In fact, summer reading lists for MCPS middle and high schools contain topics that might traditionally set off book banners: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was assigned to 6th graders at White Oak Middle this year while 9th grade students at Blake chose from a list of books that included To Kill A Mockingbird.

Christopher Finan, president of Banned Books Week's sponsor American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, said the witchcraft and racial dialogue presented in those novels are common reasons for books to challenged.

"Whatever bothers people, they're likely to complain about it when they find it in books," Finan told Patch. "The most frequently challenged books are books that have some sexual content."

Anything from homosexuality to puberty may be deemed sexual, said Finan. (Maybe that explains why three of Blume's novels about adolescent girls made it onto a list of most frequently banned titles.)

"Basically, most of these challenges occur around the issue of what's appropriate for kids to read," said Finan.

Community members must be satisfied with the public collection at Montgomery County libraries. "We get very few challenges on material," Legarreta admitted. 

Reporter Ben Gross contributed to this article.