Familiarizing Oneself with Manga Censorship

What is manga censorship? Have you ever read a volume of manga, only to notice a later edition changed some things? Is this censorship, or something else? This post will introduce manga censorship for both librarians and fans. Award winning series – Death Note, Dragon Ball, and Naruto – which have been challenged, banned, and censored in North America at North American libraries will shape our discussion.

The Library is Closed: Reflections on Self-Censorship, Pride, Silence, and Solidarity

By guest contributor E. F. Schraeder. These are risks and possibilities when a librarian opts to honor PRIDE month or recognize LGBTQ authors and readers throughout the year in other ways. Each June almost like clockwork, it seems some library or other is on the receiving end of public noise: shame or praise, for hosting or cancelling an event with LGBTQ community members in mind.

Catholic Fiction: Flannery O’Connor and Self-Censorship

“Southern Gothic” short-story and fiction writer Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) is celebrated to this day for her wry portrayals of strange, often disturbing signs of life below the Mason-Dixon Line. But as a devout Catholic, she also practiced self-censorship in the form of avoiding or otherwise officially requesting permission to read works included on the Catholic Index of Forbidden Books. How did she reconcile the two?

Librarians Beware: Self-Censorship

Dubbed self-censoring, there is a growing concern that many librarians are purposefully omitting certain books and content from library collections due to personal bias opposed to professional judgment.  According to an article in the School Library Journal, self-censorship is “a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good books—those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections.”