An article today on USA Today relates how libraries are facing the issue of which books to “ban” because of objections to them. The article ends with this quote:
Such controversies make headlines, which helps the library association and other anti-censorship groups track book bans. John, who has been studying book bans since 1993, suggests many library books simply disappear from circulation.
“It's more prevalent than people think,” she says.
How do books just “disappear” from circulation?
I know one way. Some of the books I write explain why I left the Mormon Church. Another woman named Gloria Pace left the LDS church after I did and told me that while she was a member, one of her church “jobs” was to drive the missionaries to public libraries where they kept all books critical of the church checked out.
When a book went out of print, the missionaries would “lose” it and then pay for it, knowing that it couldn't be reordered.
So in effect, they were able to “ban” my book. The LDS church does not handle critical writing by rebutting, but by banning. Not by argument with purported falsehood, but covering up the truth. If the Mormon church wished to handle critical writings honestly, things would be different.
But banning my book is one more reason why I left.
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today(Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
