State school told not to stock Mario Azzopardi’s 'Vampir' in library

The publisher of author Mario Azzopardi’s latest book for teenagers is claiming that Vampir – a collection of short stories – has been  banned from being stocked inside state secondary school libraries.

Kenneth Mizzi, director of Horizons Ltd, said the Library Services Section issued a directive not to include two works of fiction by Azzopardi, the other book being Alicia Titkellem mill-Imwiet which was awarded in the teenage category by the National Book Council in 2008.

But in comments to MaltaToday, Marisa Calleja, head of the Library Services, denied that an official directive had been issued. “In choosing books, we also want to educate pupils in values… we choose books for secondary school libraries according to our book selection policy. What’s not good for secondary schools does not enter their libraries,” Calleja said.

When asked whether this 'directive' had been communicated by word of mouth, Calleja forwarded this newspaper to Anna Maria Gilson, manager of student support services at the Education department. Gilson could not be contacted at the department.

But MaltaToday also confirmed that Azzopardi’s two works for teenagers were not classified as “adult fiction” by the Public Library section, which determines ratings for books to be used in public and school libraries.

Horizons’ Kenneth Mizzi claimed a consultant to the Library Services Section, a retired head of school, had advised the unit to prohibit books by Mario Azzopardi being stocked inside secondary school libraries.

“We were told by the LSS that the book was adult fiction, when in reality it is not. It is a classification that is completely erratic. Such discrimination against contemporary issue literature for the adolescent reader is denying serious authors like Mario Azzopardi to reflect societal changes in their works," Mizzi said.

“What is happening in society has pushed young people to earlier maturity and we feel a commitment to publish authors like Azzopardi who are critically aware of such realities,” Mizzi said.