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'Tintin in America' and 'The Menu' among Contested Titles at Ottawa Public Library

2024-04-11 15:17:49.418000

A controversial edition of the Tintin comic series and a comedy-horror film were among the seven titles challenged in the Ottawa Public Library's collection last year. The challenges were based on reasons such as racism, age-inappropriate content, promoting hatred, violence, and objectionable content. The 1949 comic book 'Tintin in America' by Belgian author Hergé was challenged for its negative portrayal of Indigenous people. The comedy-horror film 'The Menu' was contested for its objectionable content. One Russian-language book by Yevgeny Satanovsky received a request for removal for promoting hatred. The Ottawa Public Library upholds a high standard for removing or moving items from the teen or children's section to an adult section. The library system received 17 challenges in 2022, but in 2023, it received approximately 6 challenges, which is the average number per year. The library submits challenged titles to the Canadian Federation of Libraries Association's Intellectual Freedom Challenges Survey and the Centre for Free Expression (CFE) Library Challenges Database [82d452fe].

LGBTQ+ themed books were the most controversial books in US libraries in 2023, with seven out of the top ten most challenged books tackling LGBTQ+ themes. The American Library Association (ALA) reported a 65 percent increase in unique titles earmarked for censorship in 2023 compared to 2022. The ALA President, Emily Drabinski, stated that pressure groups are focusing on books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color. The ALA advocates for the freedom to choose what to read and aims to shed light on the actions of these pressure groups. The top ten most challenged books of 2023 include titles like 'Gender Queer' by Maia Kobabe, 'All Boys Aren't Blue' by George M. Johnson, and 'This Book is Gay' by Juno Dawson. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, emphasized that each challenge to censor these books is an attack on freedom to read and the diversity represented by libraries.

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