“An award-winning Kiwi novel has been banned after a complaint by conservatives, potentially sparking a wave of new restrictions on books with sexually explicit content.
The teen novel Into the River by Auckland author Ted Dawe has gone through a considerable censorship battle.
The interim ban makes it a crime to supply, display, or distribute the book in any way – if one knows about the order. Individuals and organisations who knowingly supply the banned book are liable to fines of up to $3000 and $10,000 respectively. The ban includes schools and libraries….” (The Press, 8 Sep. 2015)
Ridiculous isn’t it that we could be in breach of this ban through putting the book on display in the Library… any thoughts?
Max
Our copy of the book is no longer on display or available in the collection while this scenario plays out.
Here is a link to some reviews of the book, if you haven’t already read it: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17834579-into-the-river#other_reviews
And some further discussion: http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/into-the-river-interim-restrictions/
If there is such concern about teenagers accessing sexually explicit content, I await with interest the (further) attempts to censor ‘teh internet’.
If you haven’t seen this already, Ines Almeida posted on NZ-Libs earlier today: “After further consultation with the DIA it is not necessary to remove Into the River from your catalogues! Sorry for any confusion. Taking the book of your shelves is all you need to do at the moment.”
Thank heavens that this book is the only way that teenagers will ever learn about sex and drugs. Luckily our schools, the internet, bus stops and public parks are all completely devoid of such unpleasantness…
3rd time today that this book has been requested at Education. . . . . . .
Great marketing campaign!