Harry Potter to Remain on Gwinnett County School Library Shelves

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 5/31/2007

School libraries in Georgia’s Gwinnett County will continue to house J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, despite a mother’s objection that the books promote witchcraft, a judge ruled this week.

Laura Mallory, who says two of her four children attend public schools in the county, insists that she still wants the books removed and may take her case to federal court.

"I maybe need a whole new case from the ground up," Mallory told the Associated Press.

The ruling by Superior Judge Ronnie Batchelor upheld a decision by the Georgia Board of Education, which had supported local school officials who have said the books encourage reading and promote creativity and imagination in children.

Rowling's seventh and final Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Scholastic), comes out on July 21. The series always tops the American Library Association’s (ALA) list of most challenged books. "The series continues to draw complaints from parents and others concerned about the books’ alleged occult/Satanic theme, religious viewpoint, anti-family approach, and violence," says ALA.