The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in their Guidelines for Library Services for Young Adults, provides a framework for libraries to follow. The first guideline states the right to free access by young adults to library resources and information sources without censorship (IFLA, 2020, p. 3). Covert censorship in libraries: a discussion paper provides some interesting points to consider when classifying and labelling materials in the library collection. Moody concludes that librarians have an important role in connecting people with the information they want and need (2005, p. 146).
Young adults are a diverse group with different maturity levels (IFLA, 2020, p. 4). From experience working on the circulation desk at the library, I have, on numerous occasions drawn attention to the content of books to parents and especially grandparents of graphic novels. Older people assume these are comic books and that all the content is appropriate for their children around the age of twelve, as they transition to the Teen Fiction collection. Our library classifies the graphic novel collection as Junior or Teen and does not have any labelling or warning on the item (Moody, 2005, p.145). Here is a blog on the ratings of graphic novels which may help borrowers, but it is only a guideline as children mature at different levels (jordanriser, 2015).
Once I draw their attention to the content showing explicit violence, which may be appropriate for a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, it is definitely something a twelve-year-old does not need to visualise. I suppose I am censoring this item, but I feel the borrower should know what their child is reading as most are unaware of the content. I have also been subject to censoring books when the mobile library visits a Christian school they have requested that Goosebump books are not to be borrowed. Although I did not remove these books from the shelf, I did inform children that these books may be borrowed from the town library. When my manager did point out this was censorship, I pointed out I was a guest, and because I was a guest, I would abide by their wishes. Subsequently, I am guilty of censorship.
I understand the issues of censorship for libraries but there are times when the classification of whether an item is in the Junior or Teen collection can be blurred as children’s maturity is developed at different stages, not with age. Here is a list of banned titles from the National Archives of Australia’s blog, I have read quite a few, how many have you read?
References
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2020). Guidelines for library services for young adults. https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/libraries-for-children-and-ya/publications/ya-guidelines2-en.pdf
Jordanriser. (2015).More on the rating system of graphic novels. https://graphicnovel.umwblogs.org/2015/11/15/more-on-the-rating-system-of-graphic-novels/
Moody, K. (2005) Covert censorship in libraries: a discussion paper. The Australian Library Journal, 54(2), 138-147. DOI: 10.1080/00049670.2005.10721741