Kiley Wellendorf | Co-Editor-in-Chief

“I think it’s kind of silly that in 2015 people still challenge books,” Melissa Miller, Storm Lake Public Library Youth Services Librarian said.

The Storm Lake Public library, with over 45,000 books in its collection, has experienced past issues regarding censorship in its children’s section. The children’s section, making up of around 30 genres, includes 20,000 books in its collection. Offering picture books to younger generations, the library’s section also includes lengthy-series for high school readers as well.

In 1992, “Animalia,” a children’s book dedicated to the education of animals and wildlife, was brought to the library’s attention when two citizens discovered ‘satanic symbols’ and offensive images inside the book’s artwork.

According to the September 19, 1992 coverage done by the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, the battle included protests and folks rallied against whether or not the book should be banned. With discussion of taking the book from the library’s collection, then-board president Ron Ewing told The Pilot Tribune: “You can start in on censorship, and find yourself with nothing left that pleases everybody except a couple of old copies of Reader’s Digest.”

Offended by the art inside the pages, the book as a whole was not encouraged to become censored. Ultimately, “Animalia” became a strong point in the library’s section, taking on a spotlight of its own and opening the gates of discussion amongst the community.

Today, The Storm Lake Public Library holds four copies of “Animalia” in its collection. Miller says the book is still checked out by the youth in the community but isn’t necessarily as popular as it was during this occurrence.

“Sometimes the staff members talk about it,” Miller comments, expressing how involved the public became during the initial occasion.

Issues of religion and context continue to rise as a sensitive subject in the children’s section. While the incident was not publicly addressed, the library experienced a smaller issue with censorship regarding a book where a character apparently had two mother’s in the text, Miller says. The woman later wanted the book removed from the library shelves.

After hearing the request, the library begins to look through a forum where they decide if the book meets specific criteria for the library.

“The patron was pretty upset over it, but in the end, she understood why we have books like that in our collection,” Miller said.

In order to become an item in the library, the text has generally met the following descriptions: the book is requested by two patrons, the book appears on the New York Times Best Seller’s list, the book has received a starred review from the Library Journal, or it appears on Kirkus Review, The New York Times, or Library Journal, the library’s three resourceful sites.

Miller says in her six years as a Youth Services Librarian, religion has become the most prominent source of requesting censorship. While some incidents have not been publically addressed to the community, censorship requests in the children’s section have not gone away.

“Usually parents are more worried,” Miller said.

Miller said the American Library Association has experienced an increase in censorship requests for the year 2015.

While censorship issues have come up in the past, the Storm Lake Public Library hasn’t been challenged since the “Animalia” occurrance.

“Censorship is still alive today and it’s still something that we need to be aware of,” Miller said.