Banned Books Week: Stories of Censorship
Students in the bridge experience course LI 202, Free to All: Public Libraries in U.S. Society, researched cases of censorships in public libraries over the last two centuries. Using primary sources they wrote short reports about these cases and designed corresponding posters for Banned Books Week. Browse this guide to learn about the variety of cases in libraries.
Course Instructor: Johanna MacKay
Poster and Report by Sam Rizk '26
The Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel was first published on September 1, 1997. There are a total of 14 books in the series, a movie, and a Netflix series. This book has faced many controversies over the years. In 2000 in Naugatuck, Connecticut, it was banned from elementary school libraries. Most parents and administrators were upset, because they don’t like the “language used and believe that the books encourage disrespect for adults” (Chang). This ban started when a kid took the fourth book, Captain Underpants, and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants, to show and tell. The school didn’t react well to kids bringing these types of books. The school’s principal, Rebecca Sciacca, was particularly upset about this and removed the book from the school’s library. She refused to directly comment but said that she “encourages good literature in the school” (“Underpants Banned”).
Later that year, more elementary schools faced mounting pressure from more challenges to these books. Since the topics of these books are often outlandish and immature, there has been a debate about what to let kids read. Lynn Willard, a school librarian at Gates Chili’s Paul Road Elementary, said some parents have objected to the word underpants and believes the books to be “totally silly” (“Superhero has Foes”). Librarians such as Willard want to give kids the option to read what they like, especially because even reading “silly books” still fosters a sense of reading in kids. In fact, many librarians and teachers agree that “what it lacks in intellectual benefit is balanced by the enthusiasm the series inspires for reading” ("Superhero has Foes”).
In 2005, Jane Drabkin, a children’s librarian at the Chinn Park Regional Library in Prince William County said that parents are disgusted by these books and that they aren’t “thrilled”, but they “know that their kids love them and their kids read them” (Chang). This begs the question of what parents let their kids read. Do they let them read something that annoys them but is virtually harmless, or do they not let their kid read these books because they are harmful? Drabkin also states that people who want to ban the books “just are not giving the kids credit for understanding that it’s just for fun” (Chang). This makes it clear that these challenges and bans are about policing what kids read and failing to understand that no kid believes someone is going to hypnotize the principal. To this day, Captain Underpants is still challenged.
Sources:
"'Underpants' Banned." Press & Sun Bulletin, Feb. 21, 2000, pp. 2. ProQuest.