The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. Every year, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary reports sent to OIF from communities across the U.S. The Top 10 lists are only a snapshot of book challenges. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges – documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries – remain unreported and receive no media. ---American Library Association, 2021. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
Banned Books Week is October 1-7 2023
1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Number of challenges: 151
Challenged for:LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Gender Queer
By Kobabe, Maia
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity - what it means and how to think about it - for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781713701057
|
Book
2. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
Number of challenges: 86
Challenged for:LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
All Boys Aren't Blue
By M., Johnson, George
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780374312718
|
3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Number of challenges: 73
Challenged for:depiction of sexual abuse, EDI content, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Bluest Eye
By Morrison, Toni
The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove -- a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others -- who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780375411557
|
Book
4. Flamer by Mike Curato
Number of challenges: 62
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Flamer
By Curato, Mike
It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes -- but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about) , he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781627796415
|
Book
5. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green
Number of challenges:55
Challenged for:LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Looking for Alaska
By John, Green,
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781435249158
|
Book
5. (tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Number of challenges: 55
Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
By Chbosky, Stephen
Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. A #1 New York Times best seller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000) , and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or "wallflowers" of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781451696202
|
Hardcover
7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Number of challenges: 54
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Lawn Boy
By Evison, Jonathan
For Mike Muoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. That's the birthright for all Americans, isn't it If so, then what is Mike Muoz's problem Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can't seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it. And it's looking really good.Lawn Boy is an important, entertaining, and completely winning novel about social class distinctions, about overcoming cultural discrimination, and about standing up for oneself.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781616202620
|
Book
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Number of challenges: 52
Challenged for:profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Alexie, Sherman
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780316013697
|
Paperback
9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Number of challenges: 50
Challenged for: depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit
Out of Darkness
By PeÌrez, Ashley Hope
A 2016 Michael L. Printz Honor Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year2016 Toms Rivera Book Award Winner "[This] layered tale of color lines, love and struggle in an East Texas oil town is a pit-in-the-stomach family drama that goes down like it should, with pain and fascination, like a mix of sugary medicine and artisanal moonshine." The New York Times Book Review "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear" New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive.Ashley Hope Prez takes the facts of the 1937 New London school explosion the worst school disaster in American history as a backdrop for a riveting novel about segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781467742023
|
Hardcover
10. (tie) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Number of challenges:48
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit
A Court of Mist and Fury
By Maas, Sarah J.
Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future -- and the future of a world in turmoil.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781635575576
|
Hardcover
10. (tie) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit
Crank
By Hopkins, Ellen
The 1 New York Times bestselling tale of addiction now features a refreshed look and trade paperback trim size. Life was good before I met the monster. After, life was great, At least for a little while. Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then, Kristina meets the monster crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soulher life.,
Publisher: n/a
|
9781442471818
|
Paperback
10. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Number of challenges:48
Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
By Andrews, Jesse
The New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the hit film! This is the funniest book youll ever read about death. It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks hes figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl. This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Gregs mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Gregs entire life. Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking - this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."
Publisher: n/a
|
9781419720130
|
Hardcover
10. (tie) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Number of challenges:48
Challenged for:LGBTQIA+ content, providing sexual education, claimed to be sexually explicit
This Book Is Gay
By Dawson, Juno
The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender!Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU.This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.Inside this revised and updated edition, you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask, with topics like:Stereotypes -- the facts and fictionComing out as LGBTWhere to meet people like youThe ins and outs of gay sexHow to flirtAnd so much more!You will be entertained.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781728254326
|
Paperback
NPL Materials Selection Philosophy
Library materials are chosen to serve the informational, educational, cultural and recreational needs of the entire community. The primary goal is to provide the best possible collection with the financial resources available. The Library strives to create an attractive, up-to-date, balanced collection representing all fields of knowledge and all sides of issues in a neutral, unbiased manner, as budgets, availability of materials and space permit. Library staff select materials covering a wide range of ideas, issues and lifestyles. Due to this diversity there will always be some materials that appeal or do not appeal to specific individuals. The existence of a particular viewpoint in the collection is an expression of the Library’s policy of intellectual freedom, not an endorsement of that particular point of view. The Library encourages free expression and free access to ideas, both essential elements in a democratic society, and does not knowingly discriminate in its material selection regarding age, race, beliefs or affiliations of the author or producer. The Library subscribes to the principles of the "Library Bill of Rights", the "Freedom to Read Statement", and the "Freedom to View Statement" of the American Library Association, which are included as appendices in the Norfolk Public Library Policies and Procedures Manual.
Top 13 Challenged Books of 2022
The American Library Association condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. Every year, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary reports sent to OIF from communities across the U.S. The Top 10 lists are only a snapshot of book challenges. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges – documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries – remain unreported and receive no media. ---American Library Association, 2021. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
Banned Books Week is October 1-7 2023
1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Number of challenges: 151
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Gender Queer
By Kobabe, Maia
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity - what it means and how to think about it - for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
2. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
Number of challenges: 86
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
All Boys Aren't Blue
By M., Johnson, George
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.
3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Number of challenges: 73
Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, EDI content, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Bluest Eye
By Morrison, Toni
The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature.It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove -- a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others -- who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
4. Flamer by Mike Curato
Number of challenges: 62
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Flamer
By Curato, Mike
It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes -- but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about) , he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
5. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green
Number of challenges: 55
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Looking for Alaska
By John, Green,
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
5. (tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Number of challenges: 55
Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
By Chbosky, Stephen
Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. A #1 New York Times best seller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000) , and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or "wallflowers" of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
Number of challenges: 54
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Lawn Boy
By Evison, Jonathan
For Mike Muoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. That's the birthright for all Americans, isn't it If so, then what is Mike Muoz's problem Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can't seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it. And it's looking really good.Lawn Boy is an important, entertaining, and completely winning novel about social class distinctions, about overcoming cultural discrimination, and about standing up for oneself.
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
Number of challenges: 52
Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Alexie, Sherman
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
Number of challenges: 50
Challenged for: depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit
Out of Darkness
By PeÌrez, Ashley Hope
A 2016 Michael L. Printz Honor Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year2016 Toms Rivera Book Award Winner "[This] layered tale of color lines, love and struggle in an East Texas oil town is a pit-in-the-stomach family drama that goes down like it should, with pain and fascination, like a mix of sugary medicine and artisanal moonshine." The New York Times Book Review "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear" New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive.Ashley Hope Prez takes the facts of the 1937 New London school explosion the worst school disaster in American history as a backdrop for a riveting novel about segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people.
10. (tie) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit
A Court of Mist and Fury
By Maas, Sarah J.
Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future -- and the future of a world in turmoil.
10. (tie) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit
Crank
By Hopkins, Ellen
The 1 New York Times bestselling tale of addiction now features a refreshed look and trade paperback trim size. Life was good before I met the monster. After, life was great, At least for a little while. Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then, Kristina meets the monster crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soulher life.,
10. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
By Andrews, Jesse
The New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the hit film! This is the funniest book youll ever read about death. It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks hes figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl. This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Gregs mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Gregs entire life. Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking - this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."
10. (tie) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Number of challenges: 48
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, providing sexual education, claimed to be sexually explicit
This Book Is Gay
By Dawson, Juno
The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender!Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU.This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.Inside this revised and updated edition, you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask, with topics like:Stereotypes -- the facts and fictionComing out as LGBTWhere to meet people like youThe ins and outs of gay sexHow to flirtAnd so much more!You will be entertained.
NPL Materials Selection Philosophy
Library materials are chosen to serve the informational, educational, cultural and recreational needs of the entire community. The primary goal is to provide the best possible collection with the financial resources available. The Library strives to create an attractive, up-to-date, balanced collection representing all fields of knowledge and all sides of issues in a neutral, unbiased manner, as budgets, availability of materials and space permit. Library staff select materials covering a wide range of ideas, issues and lifestyles. Due to this diversity there will always be some materials that appeal or do not appeal to specific individuals. The existence of a particular viewpoint in the collection is an expression of the Library’s policy of intellectual freedom, not an endorsement of that particular point of view. The Library encourages free expression and free access to ideas, both essential elements in a democratic society, and does not knowingly discriminate in its material selection regarding age, race, beliefs or affiliations of the author or producer. The Library subscribes to the principles of the "Library Bill of Rights", the "Freedom to Read Statement", and the "Freedom to View Statement" of the American Library Association, which are included as appendices in the Norfolk Public Library Policies and Procedures Manual.