By Paul Varnell

This past week the American Library Association—“celebrated” isn’t quite the right word—observed Banned Books Week. The event is designed to raise public awareness of efforts by some individuals and groups to have certain books removed from library shelves.

In 2006 the ALA received reports of 546 challenges to books in school and public libraries, objecting to depictions of violence, drugs, homosexuality, satanic content and offensive language. Usually the challenges are to books for young people, although there are occasional objections to adult books on school reading lists.

If that seems like a large number of challenges, the situation is actually worse than it appears. According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, her office estimates that reported challenges are only 20-25 percent of the total number of challenges made.

Of course, not all of these challenges are successful. In most cases librarians mount a vigorous defense and most challenges are resolved in favor of the book’s staying on the shelves. The concern is more that if certain types of book are frequently challenged, librarians, particularly in small towns, may be reluctant to purchase more books of that type—just to avoid the trouble.

More worrisome though is what we might call “the five-finger challenge.” Caldwell-Stone cited the case of a woman who checked out both copies of a book from her local library, then wrote to the librarian announcing that because she disapproved of them she was not going to return them. It seems ironic that this staunch guardian of public morals has no problem with stealing.

Most “five-finger challenges” are less candid, though. In a research project on gay children’s and young adult books, I found that a number of those books in the Chicago Public Library computer catalogue are listed as checked out in 2006 or 2005 and never returned. Librarians seem reluctant to say the books were stolen. Perhaps patrons liked the book and wanted to keep them. Or perhaps they just forgot about them. Maybe so in some cases, but I doubt if all, or even most, can be explained that way. And apparently the library makes no attempt to retrieve the books.

Yet other books are simply listed as “missing”—meaning the library has no idea where they are. Maybe some of those books are merely lost in the library’s circulation system, but not all. What does it mean that the same titles are “missing” at several different branches of the library system? Or that both copies of a book at a particular branch library are “missing”?

There is ample reason to believe that some of these challenges are part of a coordinated effort. Several right-wing Internet sites list books they deem objectionable, books that mention homosexuality prominent among them. They thus save the potential challenger or five-fingered vigilante the trouble of actually reading the books. How else could someone erroneously think that “And Tango Makes Three” is about homosexuality?

What can any of us do to counter the efforts to ban gay-themed and other books? For one thing, simply be alert to news reports of book challenges and be prepared to speak up and offer support to the library and its mission of providing books for readers with a variety of interests.

Second, we can check out and read (and then return) a gay-themed book. Libraries live by circulation: It is proof that they are doing their job. Caldwell-Stone points out that one of the ways librarians can justify retaining a book is that the book is popular—that there is a clear patron constituency for the book. Don’t be reluctant to check out young adult books. Many are well written and have intriguing plots. And the children’s picture books are usually clever and, well, cute.

Third, we can issue our own challenges—not to ban a book we might not like (that would make us as bad as the homophobes) but a “challenge” or request for the library to acquire a gay book or two that it does not currently have. Or challenge it to replace a book that has been missing for a long time. Libraries—at least in Chicago—don’t seem to keep a list of the books that are missing or were taken out and never returned. So if you notice one, ask for it to be replaced.

I can think of no better response to homophobic vigilantes than to assure them that the library will replace each and every book they steal or check out and never return—thus frustrating their efforts. If a book was good enough to buy in the first place, it should be good enough to replace.

Some of Paul Varnell’s previous columns are posted at the Independent Gay Forum (www.indegayforum.org). His e-mail address is pvarnell@aol.com.