February 8, 2001

Harry Potter Tops List of Banned Books

By SHANNON MAUGHAN, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

he results are in, and Harry Potter has racked up another (dubious, this time) achievement.

J.K. Rowling's series of books about a boy's experiences at wizardry boarding school top the list of most challenged books of 2000, as tracked by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF). The Potter books first entered the ranks of challenged books in 1999, making a quick ascent to the top spot on the list that year. The number of challenges to Harry Potter has risen to 646 in 2000 from 472 in 1999, with parents and others mostly complaining about the books' alleged occult/Satanic and anti-family themes, and violence.

The observations of Virginia Walter, president of the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), echo the OIF's findings. "The challenges seem to be objecting to occult or supernatural content in the books and are being made largely by traditional Christians who believe the Bible is a literal document," she said. "Any exposure to witches or wizards shown in a positive light is anathema to them. Many of these people feel that the books are door-openers to topics that desensitize children to very real evils in the world."

Walter also outlined the general position of librarians in the face of challenges. "Although I now better understand their [people challenging books] point of view, having read a recent, excellent Horn Book article on it, the issue still remains that we respect a parent's role in guiding their children. Parents have every right to make decisions for their own children, but they do not have the right to restrict the choices of others or censor for others."

The ALA's OIF defines a challenge as "a formal written complaint filed with a library or school about a book's content or appropriateness." But Harry's official numbers in 2000 probably reflect only the tip of the iceberg of complaints against the Potter books. The OIF estimates that less than 25% of all challenges are actually reported.

The 10 most challenged books of 2000 were: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier; Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; "Killing Mr. Griffin" by Lois Duncan; "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck; "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou; "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers; Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz; "The Terrorist" by Caroline Cooney; "The Giver" by Lois Lowry.

The top three titles are the same as last year, with "The Chocolate War" and Alice books merely trading positions.

Copyright © 2001 Publishers Weekly. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of Publishers Weekly: The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling.

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