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Captain America & Secret Empire should my library carry them when I find it repulsive?

This was a question someone reached out to me and asked me to tackle, so here we go..

Let's get a few things out of the way first shall we? Yes, Captain America is essentially a Nazi now or at the very, very least being used as a Neo-Nazi/white supremacist propaganda.

And yes, that is extremely troubling and flies in the face of the late great Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the creators of Captain America, who like many early comic writers were Jewish.

Also, no you do not have to personally support any of these books. You don't need to buy Captain America, Secret Empire, Thunderbolts, or any the tie in stories. You just don't.

You should, however, buy it for the books for your library if you think they will circulate and justify your purpose as a library (like if you have a huge white supremacist population and you think they'll read it). That's ultimately the reason to have any controversial material and there is legitimate reasons to have material that is pushing the envelope and making people study the issue. If Captain America's reveal makes people re-evaluate their views, then that is a good thing.

But here is the reality on the popularity side, as Bookriot No Marvel We're Out of Patience points out sales on Captain America are slumping which is sort of typical of a Marvel title, but they're really going down fast over all. Secret Empire started out solid in sales, but that is with 5 covers, so ultimately.. sales data does not suggest that this is a hugely popular series, if you want to argue that.

This also is a trend for Marvel of the last several years of making all of their heroes into villains or rather generally bad people, so people could be bored with the concept over all as it's not very new. But it has drawn a lot of protest, anger and people being upset so adding it to your library collection should be done with care if you choose to have it and I would make sure your policies are strong on collecting and keeping objectionable material so you can defend your choice.

Really this boils down to: if you think it will circulate, get it. If you do not think it will, don't. There are numbers and arguments to back up both sides, but personal opinions on the comic and story really shouldn't come into play anymore than any other objectionable material. You make these decisions either way, just be prepared to defend your position and also be open to hearing the both sides of the argument to make that decision. The controversy should not be the only reason you shy away from it or openly support it and you cannot stand on that argument alone. You also cannot use the argument that people are hurt or upset by it as the only reason for exclusion anymore than you would accept the same reasoning for excluding a Harry Potter book or Perry Moore's Hero or Walter Dean Myers' Monster. 

Ultimately do what is best for your library and remember this is no different than any other controversial material.





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