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Lovers of Harry Potter books go on the defensive By
Mike De La O
The Harry Potter books have been under attack for the past year and a half by some parents and school administrators, says the American Library Association. According to the ALA, books in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling top the list of books most challenged in 1999. The list of the top 100 banned books shows Harry Potter in the company of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Joann Dahl, of the Logan Library, said "It's up to the parents to decide if their child should read (Harry Potter). "Most of the parents I know read it with their kids," Dahl said. "I have no problem with the book and I can't see why there is such a controversy." There is no restriction on the books in Utah, Dahl said. There are four copies of the books on the shelves at Logan Library, but they are always checked out. Utah hasn't had a problem thus far with the Harry Potter books, according to articles by Peggy Fletcher Stack and Richard Scheinin of The Salt Lake Tribune. The normally conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't that reactionary to Rowling's books. "You have to distinguish between so-called good and bad magic," BYU English Professor Jesse Crisler was quoted saying. "While Mormons would not be able to accept witchcraft, they would have less trouble believing the good magic can occur." Controversy was not Rowling's intention when she wrote the series. She told The Washington Post, "If you ban all the books with witchcraft and the supernatural, you'll ban three-quarters of children's literature. I positively think they are moral books. I've met thousands of children, but I've never met a single child who has asked me about the occult." A new coalition called the Free Expression Network, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Council of Teachers of English, and People for the American Way, has warned that the removal of Harry Potter books could unleash a veritable avalanche of school-based censorship. The biggest censorship thus far for the series happened in Zeeland, Mich., where Gary L. Feenstra, superintendent of schools, decided to place restrictions on the books. Feenstra decided Harry Potter books were appropriate for grades 5 through 8, but would not be placed on the shelves in Zeeland Public School's libraries. They are made available for check-out to students with written parental permission. Zeeland schools cannot use the Potter books in the classroom for read-aloud purposes or as part of the regular curriculum, although students can write book reports on them with prior written parental permission. Feenstra also decided future books in the Harry Potter series (after the third one) would not be purchased for school libraries. Parents, students, and teachers in Zeeland have formed a group called Muggles for Harry Potter to fight the resrictions placed by Feenstra and others who oppose the books.
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