Hot take: the librarian who banned "Captain Underpants" from my school was just mad kids liked it more than her picks

I talked to my old school librarian last week at a grocery store... and she actually defended banning those books. Said they were "low quality" and "disrupted reading habits." But man, I was a kid who wouldn't touch any other book. That series got me reading for fun. So her saying that made me wonder if banning is more about adult ego than protecting kids. Has anyone else run into a censor who just seemed personally offended by the thing they banned?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mary5h ago

Gotta disagree with @smith.jordan on this one. I actually think the librarian was right to be worried, just for the wrong reasons. Captain Underpants uses potty humor as a crutch - every single joke is either a fart or a wedgie. Kids get hooked on that easy laugh and it’s hard to get them to move to anything with more substance. I’ve seen kids read ten of those in a row and then refuse to touch a book with actual character development because it was “too boring.” Banning is too far, but pretending that series is secretly sophisticated is a stretch.

smith.jordan10h ago

Ngl, that "low quality" excuse is basically just code for "I didn't pick it so it doesn't count." Captain Underpants has actual chapters, a plot that builds on itself, and it uses humor to teach kids about story structure and satire. My younger brother would hide in the library corner reading those books because the main librarian acted like they were contraband. But you're right, adults get weirdly territorial about what "counts" as reading. The irony is, she probably banned them because they were popular, not because they were bad.