Recently, I was asked to review a children’s book that had been challenged at one of our branch libraries.  The book, Devil in the Drain by Daniel Pinkwater, is old and no longer appears to be in print. But, the author is popular and award-winning. As soon as I saw the title, I could guess at the complaint, and I was instantly angered that a patron was asking this book to be removed from the collection. I think it’s short-sighted of people to want books removed from libraries whenever they find them offensive. Do they really want a public library that only represents their beliefs? What would such a library look like? Public libraries should have diverse collections that serve their diverse communities.  If you don’t like a book, don’t read it.  If you don’t want your child to read a book, don’t let them.  But don’t ask the library to take it off of the shelf unless you are prepared to have someone else take your books off the shelf as well. Take a look at the ALA’s list of most challenged books over the past couple of decades. Some of the titles might surprise you. I find it interesting that many of the books on the list are books that encourage free-thinking (i.e. A Wrinkle in Time). I also find it interesting that public libraries are among the first places to fall under government control in countries that have dictatorships or are under communist governments.  How better to control a people than to dictate what they can and cannot read? The ALA says it well in their Freedom to Read Statement when they write: “We believe… that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.”