Soft Censorship

by | Feb 28, 2020 | Keeping Up With Kids

I just read an article in SLJ about LGBTQIA+ authors who encounter “soft censorship” from school and public libraries.  Their books aren’t banned.  Their appearances aren’t picketed.  They just aren’t asked to come in the first place, and their books are not purchased or promoted by schools and libraries even if they are critically acclaimed.  The authors acknowledge that many factors go into deciding what to purchase and who to bring for a visit.  Yet they have all experienced situations that back up their feeling that censorship is a factor.  It’s easy for this sort of thing to slip past our radar, especially if we have our own conscious or unconscious biases to contend with.

This discussion prompted me to do a little searching in our own catalog.  Here are some things I found:

  • Only 11 libraries own The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.  The Undefeated is this year’s Caldecott Award winner!  It also won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and a Newbery Honor.   Three libraries have the title on order–why not more?  For comparison:
    • There are 29 copies of the 2019 Caldecott Winner, Hello Lighthouse.
    • There are 29 copies of the 2018 Caldecott Winner, Wolf in the Snow.
    • There are 40 copies of the 2016 Caldecott Winner, Finding Winnie.
    • The 2017 Caldecott winner, Radiant Child, like The Undefeated, is by an African American book creator, and is about a Black historical figure.  There are just 17 copies of that one.
  • Then I checked out picture books that have been critically acclaimed (starred reviews and selections in CCBC Choices) that are about gender-nonconforming or transgender kids.  I was surprised to note:
    • I Am Jazz:  only 7 copies in the system (and one library had it cataloged as nonfiction)
    • Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress:  8 copies in the system
    • Jacob’s New Dress:  4 copies in the system
    • When Aidan Became a Brother:  8 copies in the system

Hmmm…I’m just going to leave that there for a while for all of us to ponder.  And I hope we do!  I’d love to hear from you if you have thoughts about this.