Why are Cambridge University’s librarians judging ‘problematic’ books?

Librarians across Cambridge University are on the look out. Their target, among the ten million-odd volumes in the main library and in the independently-run libraries of the colleges, is ‘problematic’ books.

‘We would like to hear from colleagues across Cambridge about any books you have had flagged to you as problematic,’ a memo sent to colleges by the University Library read. But surely what is most damaging is to bandy around words such as ‘harmful’ and ‘problematic’ without even defining them.

It goes without saying that a great library will contain books that some, occasionally nearly all, readers will find disturbing. It would be absurd to put together a library on modern German history and to place Mein Kampf off limits. It would be absurd to think that a student could write a serious essay about the rise of Hitler without direct experience of its screeching pages. Some years ago one of my books was issued in paperback by Pimlico, and I found that this wide-ranging and handsome collection of books included a translation of Mein Kampf as well.