Book Challenges Due to Social Media Exposure

I work at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library, and we occasionally receive challenges to items in our collections (usually books) that some patrons consider offensive, unfair, or contrary to their particular religious or value system.  Most of these challenges come verbally from irate patrons complaining to the circulation desk staff.  The library provides a written form in which patrons may explain their objections to specific items and their reasons, but, not surprisingly, many people don't want to commit their attacks to writing.  It's much easier to simply bellow at library staff and demand that the "undesirable" materials be removed "immediately."

We insist that the form be completed before an independent committee will review any complaints.  When patrons fill-out the form, they often cannot identify passages or page numbers upon which the offending words or ideas were presented.  That, of course, if because many people who challenge books and wish to ban them from libraries haven't bothered to actually read the items in question.  Sometimes, we receive a well-reasoned, detailed petition to remove particular materials, but that is rare.  Most forms are powered purely by emotional response.

What has this to do with library technologies, which is the general subject of this blog?  Over the past couple of years, we have received complaints about certain books (and demands for their removal) based upon promotional technologies, such as book trailers, blog posts, and other social media posts.

Using social media to promote particular library resources is obviously to increase awareness of their availability.  We never expected that such promotional efforts would result in requests to ban.  For example, in 2016, we reprised the following two book trailers on two of our blogs (and on Facebook and Twitter) a couple of weeks before Halloween.

MPL Book Trailer #14

Haunting at Sycamore Lake, by Karl C. B. Muilliwey

MPL Book Trailer #110

Shelf Doll, by Karl C. B. Muilliwey

A few days later, a patron told our circulation staff to remove "those devil-worship books" from our shelves--"the ones you made those movies about."  Through some follow-up questions from our adult reference librarian on duty (me), we were able to determine which items were subject to the patron's disapproval.  When given a written form to complete regarding her objections to the works, the patron declined and left the library, vowing never to return.

Then, last year, when we promoted these same two books through our local history blog (again, around Halloween), a different patron disapproved, claiming that we were encouraging communication with the devil (pertaining, presumably, to the seances described in both works).  Again, a written form was offered and refused.

It's unlikely that either of these patrons would have learned about either of these two books (self-published by a local author) had we not made book trailers about them and shared these on blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.  It is ironic that our attempts to encourage seasonal reading through social media resulted in energizing public demands for censorship.  Further, we were frankly shocked that this particular content (ghosts and poltergeists) engendered such a negative emotional response from these two patrons.

Some protests have occurred when people have noticed more mainstream, challenged materials on display (usually during the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom's Banned Books Week) or on displays promoting author visits (some of whom have written controversial material).  Since photographs of these displays are always included on our blogs and other social media (especially Facebook and Twitter), it's possible that objectors first saw "objectionable" items through those channels, fueling their antipathy toward the subject matter.

Most complaints, however, have nothing to do with our promotional efforts.  Patrons simply have seen or heard about a book to which they (or their associates) object, and so they call, email, or visit the library to seek removal.

Being a small township library, we don't receive many banning requests (about a half-dozen per year on average).  Still, for those we receive, it has been surprising how the library's use of social media appears to have stimulated opposition to certain content.  Libraries see social media as a means to increase public awareness and to provide useful information.  Censorship backlash was certainly something we never anticipated.

In support of Banned Books Week, we  have prepared promo trailers over the years.

2018 Banned Books Week, by Mooresville Public Library

Visit our video playlist to watch other BBW videos or book trailers we've made to challenged or banned books.