Censorship In Libraries

556 Words3 Pages
Dear Editor: Censorship in public libraries is inconsiderable, unreasonable, and absurd. It must be eliminated from the minds of our town council. If a book is not acceptable for patrons under eighteen, I feel either the patron’s parents or the patron himself should decide so. The town council and the public library have no idea whether a patron is responsible enough to read a book with possible adult themes. Censorship is also ridiculous because most classic novels involve questionable language, or somewhat violent material. If the library removes these books, the patrons under eighteen lose the opportunity to learn valuable lessons from them. A last reason that censorship is unbelievable is patrons over eighteen will most likely want to check out the books that are in question to be removed. If the town council decides to remove them, many patrons will become enraged. Deciding if a library patron under eighteen should be aloud to read a questionable book is the decision of the patron and their parents. That is it, no one else. A town council or public library cannot have the knowledge to know whether some patrons are more advanced and could accept and understand the somewhat questionable material. If a patron under eighteen checks out what their parent feels is an unacceptable book, it is only the fault of the parent for not checking up on what their child is checking out. Once a person under eighteen checks out one of the controversial books, there is a high chance they can learn something from it. If the town council were to remove these books, knowledge will be stolen from many patrons. Stealing the chance to learn from books just because a few parents are complaining about the subject material of the books, does not seem worth it. Other than patrons under eighteen, adults may wish to check out the unacceptable books. If the town council discarded
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