APR I L 201 4 SUNRAYS | 69
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
Nancy is the representative for the
Sun City Texas Library. Questions?
Email
with “Library Column” in the sub-
ject line.
News from the SC Stacks
By Nancy Davis
Occasionally, the topic of censorship
comes up in connection with the books
in our library—I do not censor any book.
While censoring material may be appro-
priate in some instances, it is not appro-
priate in the Sun City Texas Library!
Several years ago, I was surprised by a
woman who discovered a biography that
was mislabeled as fiction. She pointed
this error out to me and also mentioned
that she might take it home and toss it
in the trash because it was full of lies
and filth. I was quite taken aback that
anyone would do that and I did regain
enough sense to tell her that I would take
the book and change the label. I am still
very disturbed at the thought that any-
one would take it upon themselves to de-
cide that a certain book does not belong
in our library.
Book Criteria
Of course, we cannot keep every book that
is donated, but we do not judge the con-
tents. The condition of the book is a pri-
mary concern. Sometimes, the book may
be falling apart or is soiled so badly that
we hesitate even touching it. Who would
really want to read such a book? Also,
usually we don’t keep books that are very
small or very large, as these books make
shelving difficult; the same applies to spi-
ral-bound or notebook formats.
Age of the book is another factor. The cri-
teria we use is the latest copyright date
listed; currently, we keep books with
a copyright date from within the last
20 years. Many people have comment-
ed that amount of time is not lengthy
enough; but, sometimes, a book shows
much wear after being read twice. Also,
many books, and that includes classics
as well as perennial bestsellers, are re-
printed a number of times. True classical
literature, including many 20th century
classics, is exempt from the age criteria.
A shorter time period is used for finan-
cial help, travel guides and medical is-
sues because who would invest, travel or
medicate with 20-year-old advice?
Banned Books
I think it is very interesting to look at the
AmericanLibraryAssociation list of books
that have been banned at some time in
their published life; our library has many
of them available. Read a banned book to-
day and celebrate freedom! Listed below
are a number of banned books in the Sun
City Texas Library:
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzger-
ald;
The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Sa-
linger;
The Grapes of Wrath
and
Of
Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck;
To
Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee;
The
Color Purple
by Alice Walker;
Ulysses
by James Joyce;
Beloved
and
Song of
Solomon
by Toni Morrison;
The Lord
of the Flies
by William Golding;
Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov;
Catch-22
by Jo-
seph Heller;
Brave New World
by Al-
dous Huxley;
Animal Farm
and
1984
by George Orwell;
The Sun Also Rises,
A Farewell to Arms
and
For Whom the
Bell Tolls
by Ernest Hemingway;
As I
Lay Dying
by William Faulkner;
Their
Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale
Hurston;
Invisible Man
by Ralph El-
lison;
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret
Mitchell;
Native Son
by Richard Wright;
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
by Ken
Kesey;
Slaughterhouse-Five
and
Cat’s
Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut;
The Call of
the Wild
, by Jack London;
Go Tell it on
the Mountain
, by James Baldwin;
All the
King’s Men
by Robert Penn Warren;
The
1984
by
George
Orwell
Catch-22
by
Joseph
Heller
Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien;
The
Jungle
by Upton Sinclair;
Lady Chatter-
ley’s Lover, Women in Love
and
Sons and
Lovers
by D.H. Lawrence;
A Clockwork
Orange
by Anthony Burgess;
The Awak-
ening
by Kate Chopin;
In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote;
The Satanic Verses
by Salman Rushdie;
Sophie’s Choice
by
William Styron;
A Separate Peace
by
John Knowles;
Naked Lunch
by William
S. Burroughs;
Brideshead Revisited
by
EvelynWaugh;
The Naked and the Dead
by Norman Mailer;
Tropic of Cancer
by
Henry Miller;
An American Tragedy
, by
Theodore Dreiser; and
Rabbit, Run
by
John Updike.
Did you know…?
Each month, the library receives ap-
proximately 500 books that cannot be
used. These books are given to various
charities, small town startup libraries,
nursing homes and hospitals, and mili-
tary groups.
The
Satanic
Verses
by
Salman
Rushdie
Women in
Love
by
D.H. Lawrence
