Indulge me, if you will…
Imagine I am a school librarian, in Des Moines, Iowa. I am slowly walking through the stacks, removing titles as I go. The Kite Runner, The Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World, The Colour Purple. You may picture me in a pencil skirt, with a fitted jacket, my hair in a bun, and my feet in some Mary Janes. But…I could be wearing Birkenstocks, harem pants, and a septum piercing. With tattoos up my arms, and electric blue hair.
You see, these books are being removed from the shelves of libraries in 2023. Both public and school libraries. And, although I used Des Moines as an example, a lot of Australians would be surprised to learn that we ban as many, or more books than they do in the United States. Book banning is a type of censorship, and often means people are unable to access these books, many of which contain excellent information for young people with questions.
Australia has a long history of restricting material . Until 1973, when Gough Whitlam dismantled the censorship regime, Australia had the third harshest censorship laws in the English speaking world. The only countries who were more strict were Catholic Ireland and South Africa, under apartheid.
Books were banned for many reasons, but obscenity was the most common, as well as indecency, sedition, violence, sex, racism, interracial sexual relationships, and blasphemy. The conservative religious right was all powerful, and many titles which were banned then, are now considered classics.
More recently, books are banned due to homophobia, racism, and fear of inclusion, diversity, and equity. The most banned book of 2023 is Gender Queer: A Memoir; by Maia Kobabe.
This chart is from the US, but the statistics are scary. PEN America are advocates and activists against book banning.
Over this week I will be writing about some of my favourite banned books.
What are your favourite banned books?
Kylie Eklund-Denman 
From your pile of books here, I’d say A Handmaids Tale and Nineteen Eighty Four would be my top picks. Both brilliant books by great writers and should be available for everyone to read.