From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
In April 1936, a report by the local Children’s Aid Society accidentally pulled the library into a flurry of controversy.
The article in question was about the number of children born to unwed parents, which Local Superintendent J.P. Reed reported stood at 47 in a one-year span. He noted that “Unfortunately too many children are being born out of wedlock. This is not the fault of the child, and the parents are the ones who should be classed as illegitimate rather than the child.”
While the article itself made no reference to the public library, one letter writer quickly made a connection as to what they thought the root issue was. On May 2, 1936, a letter appeared in the Sault Daily Star, titled “Complains that Soo Library Books ‘Sexy.’”
In this letter, an anonymous writer from Echo Bay placed the blame for unwed parents squarely on the library, asking if there was “any wonder when the girls and boys read such books on sex that are in the Public Library of Sault Ste. Marie?”
The letter-writer singled out some of the authors of the “horrible, filthy books,” including Robert Hichens, Nancy Hoyt, and W. Somerset Maugham. The content in question would be relatively tame by today’s standards: romance novels, or depictions of affairs with married men. Nevertheless, in 1936, this certainly ruffled some feathers.
Two additional letters appeared in the Sault Daily Star on the topic. One, submitted anonymously under the name A Soo Reader, agreed with these concerns, writing, “it does seem a pity there also are books circulating from [the library] that seem to me to be a detriment to the minds and morals of our readers.”
The writer noted that she and other mothers attempted to steer their children towards “good literature,” but it was difficult to accomplish when they could easily get more racy books from the library. She ended her letter with a challenge: “How about our Library Board? Cannot it censor immoral books and aid in the cleaning up of this city?”
The other letter described amusement regarding concerns about library books, stating that the initial letter writer “was sadly misled.” This new writer, also anonymous, reported reading books by Robert Hichens and praised their quality. They noted that adult materials were available across the city. They also suggested that the initial writer “take out a card with the library or drop in occasionally and peruse its shelves…. One can scarcely attribute the cause of so many illegitimate births to the fiction contained on the shelves of the library.”
Beyond a few letters in the local newspaper, what was the impact on the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library? In 1937, an article in the Sault Daily Star by P.C. Dubois offered some more information.
“Do you like to read ‘spicy’ books?” the article began. It continued to question: “… Well, do you enjoy reading books that are just a ‘wee’ bit ‘spicy?’ … If your answer is “No” then ask yourself the same questions over again and this time really be honest with yourself.”
According to the article, a significant number of library patrons wanted to read these “spicy” books – and became interested in them because of the controversy. They turned out in droves to ask for books by Hichens, Hoyt, and Maugham; in some cases, having forgotten the specific author names, they simply asked the librarians, “Have you any books in by the authors mentioned in that letter which appeared in Saturday’s Star?”
Some of the books had gone uncirculated for almost a year, only to be suddenly in high demand – or, as the article described it, “working overtime.”
As the article stated, “So! … If you wish to start a stampede on a book that you’ve read, just pass around the word that it’s ‘hot stuff!’”