The Ottawa Public Library denied all formal requests to remove, relocate or place content warnings on items in its collection last year.
A report for Tuesday’s Ottawa Public Library Board meeting shows 11 formal challenges were received for books in its collection in 2024, up from seven challenges in 2023.
All 11 challenges were for items in the print collection, including eight books in the adult collection and three requests in the children’s collection. Staff say six requests called for items to be removed entirely from the collection, three submissions requested the Ottawa Public Library add a warning label to the book and one suggested moving a children’s book to the teen collection.
“Client concerns included, in their own words, age-inappropriate content, ideological bias, transphobia, Islamophobia, quality, pro LGBTQIA+ content, inaccurate medical information, and explicit content,” the report says.
Here is a look at the 10 books subjected to requests for reconsideration at the Ottawa Public Library in 2024
Remove
- Beginning with Heidegger by Michael Millerman (Basis of challenge: Politically/ideologically biased)
- Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier (Basis of challenge: Transphobia)
- A Traitor in Whitehall by Julia Kelly (Basis of challenge: Quality of content)
- The Muhammad Code by Howard Bloom (Basis of challenge: Inaccurate information, Islamophobic)
- Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBridge (Basis of challenge: Medical misinformation)
Relocate
- Pretty Ugly by David Sedaris (Basis of challenge: Inappropriate for age)
- Les Piranhas ne mangent pas d’ananas by Aaron Blabey (Basis of challenge: Inappropriate for age)
- Zo zo zombie. Vol. 8, Rainy season by Yasunari Nagatoshi (Basis of challenge: Inappropriate for age)
Content Warning
- History of Mistresses by Elizabeth Abbott (Basis of challenge: Explicit content)
- Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hallow by Christina Henry (Basis of challenge: Pro LGBTQ+)
Staff say there were no requests for reconsideration of an art exhibit, library program or library display last year.
The Ottawa Public Library removed two books from the collection in 2022 following challenges by the public. The book Hitler’s Table Talk was withdrawn due to “low usage” and the French book Drole de papa was removed due to the “age of the material and insignificant research or cultural value,” according to the library.
