Esther Newrick (left) and Rachel Smith with a selection of the ALA's top 100 most challenged books. Photo / Mike Tweed
Esther Newrick (left) and Rachel Smith with a selection of the ALA's top 100 most challenged books. Photo / Mike Tweed
Whanganui District Library is celebrating an unusual event over the next seven days - Banned Books Week.
The initiative was started by the America Library Association (ALA), which has been documenting attempts to ban books in libraries and schools around the world since 1990.
A challenge to a book isan attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objection of a person or group, while a ban is the total removal of those materials.
Whanganui District Library currently stocks 45 of the ALA's 100 most challenged and banned books between 2010 and 2019.
Learning and discovery librarian, Esther Newrick, said the books weren't held because they were on the list, it was because they were "classics".
Other books on the list include The Catcher in the Rye, Goosebumps, A Clockwork Orange, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and The Holy Bible.
New Zealand author Ted Dawe had his novel Into The River challenged and banned for six weeks in 2015, after concerns were raised about depictions of underage sex.
It was the first time a book had been subject to an interim restriction order in New Zealand in 22 years.
Unsurprisingly, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler also made the top 100 list.
In 2018, the third most challenged book was the Captain Underpants series, because it was perceived as "encouraging disruptive behaviour".
Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir-Stinks-A-Lot was also challenged for including a same-sex couple.
Whanganui District Library stocks both Mein Kampf and Sir-Stinks-A-Lot.
Many books on the list have been turned into movies or TV series. Photo / Mike Tweed
Fellow learning and discovery librarian, Rachel Smith, said interest in novels like Into The River only spiked after they had been restricted.
