My tiny library in western Kansas had a secret shelf of pulled books

I was visiting my folks last month and stopped into the public library in Hays where I grew up. The librarian there, Mrs. Chen, has been there since I was a kid. She recognized me and after chatting a bit she pulled me aside and showed me this back room storage closet. Had like three boxes of books that had been pulled from the shelves over the last 15 years. Stuff like 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison and even a children's book about a family with two dads. She said a local church group complained about maybe half of them and the rest got flagged by the school board for 'age appropriateness' even though they were in the adult section. I asked if I could borrow one and she said no, they can't circulate them or it'd get her in trouble. Has anyone else stumbled on a secret stash like this at their old hometown library?

2 comments

2 Comments

mia_singh2419d ago

Gently correct you on one thing though - it's "The Bluest Eye" not "The Bluest Eye" (wait, you spelled it right, my bad). But for real, that secret shelf thing is wild. I found something similar in a small town in Nebraska once, just a box of graphic novels in a back room that weren't allowed on the regular shelves.

torres.jason19d ago

Whoa, hold up, I gotta push back on this one. The whole idea of a secret shelf sounds more like a badge of honor for a town that actually cares about what people read, not some sketchy censorship thing. And @mia_singh24, those graphic novels were probably kept back there because the librarian knew most folks in a small Nebraska town wouldn't get them, but at least they were still available for the kids who needed them.