The Golden Compass, along with the other two books in the Dark Materials series, was permanently removed from Halton Catholic school library shelves Tuesday night after a majority of trustees ruled the book's anti-religious content is inappropriate for their students.

"I believe the message is that if we have it in our library we endorse it. We have the opportunity tonight to look at these books and ask ourselves if these are things that we can endorse in our libraries, and I know I cannot," said board vice-chair and Burlington trustee Joanne Matters.

The book was removed from display throughout the school board's libraries in mid-November after a complaint was received concerning the book's content. However, the book was still available if students requested it.

Trustees turned the matter over to the board's Book Review Committee for a ruling.

On Tuesday night, however, the committee recommended keeping the book in circulation.

"The book does have some issues with language and some violence, so it would be appropriate to be placed in the young adult section of our elementary libraries," said Rick MacDonald, Superintendent of Education, Curriculum Services.

"We did have a lengthy discussion around the Catholicity components of the book and there are some references to Catholicity and other religions in the book. They are portrayed in a negative fashion, but the book is set in a parallel universe. This is a fantasy mode of writing, and the committee members felt that due to the religious education the students received, they would be able to make a distinction between that and the negative impressions of the author."

MacDonald said many of the jabs the author takes at organized religion would probably be beyond the ability of most students to comprehend and with that a motion came before the board to display The Golden Compass and the rest of the Dark Materials trilogy in the libraries once again.

Milton trustee Rev. David Wilhelm, who seconded the motion, spoke about the need to keep the book in board schools.

"It saddens me there are people out there with very negative attitudes concerning the church, but that's part of the world in which we live. It's very hard to shelter anybody from that and I'm not sure we should," he said. "This is the reality of the world."

Wilhelm also feared that by banning the book, all the board would do is add to the firestorm of controversy surrounding it, and garner more attention for it.

"The book has been out there for 12 years and it's only recently, strangely around the time when a movie based on the book is set to come out, that we've had to deal with this thing," he said.

"I would think that by just pulling it off the shelves, contrary to the committees decision, my fear is that we'd be drawing attention to this thing that it really doesn't deserve. Any person who reads that book and has any element of faith at all is going to recognize it for what it is and, as Mr. MacDonald said, it's written in a fantasy world."

These points proved to be insufficient, however, to ease the concerns of other trustees, who maintained that the anti-religious sentiments in The Golden Compass could not be ignored.

"I must say that I am disappointed in the committee's recommendation and I cannot support it," said Matters.

"The Golden Compass speaks against the tenets of our faith and as a faith-based Catholic institution we need to ensure that the material that we place before the souls and minds of the students in our care is in keeping with the tenets of our faith. I do not believe that the book adequately supports our mission statement and I can't support its continued presence in our schools."

Oakville trustee Anthony Danko requested information on how the book got into the board's libraries in the first place. MacDonald responded that a screening process was in place, but that the book was probably entered into the board's collection years ago because it won "copious amounts of children's literacy awards."

MacDonald said concerns about extensive student exposure to the anti-religious sentiments of the book are inflated as the copies of The Golden Compass that do exist in HCDSB libraries are not flying off the shelves.

Danko said it was inappropriate that any elementary student could still get The Golden Compass from a HCDSB library.

"This book may be perfectly enjoyable to a certain segment of the reading public, but I think when parents send their children to our school they kind of assume that it is a Catholic environment and the idea that we would present something antithetical to the Catholic faith in an elementary school is really not something they should expect," he said.

"I think us saying that our libraries shouldn't collect this is a perfectly reasonable thing to say."

Wilhelm responded that the Catholic Church itself has not banned the book.

"So if we were to say, 'Let's ban it from the system,' you have to ask, 'Are we more forceful than the church at large?'" he said.

Danko said the board is already banning the anti-Catholic material of the outside world from schools by having internet filters on their school computers.

"Why would we not do the same in our school libraries?" he asked. "If we allow this on the grounds that we can't ban anything then why don't we have other things like Madonna's sex book in there?"

Oakville trustee Pauline Houlahan said even if one child's faith were saved in the process, then it was worth doing so.

Student trustees were also divided on this issue. North Halton student trustee Kelly Medeiros said students should be able to choose their reading material for themselves.

"I don't think we should try to shelter children from this one book when there are so many other books out there that are just as controversial, if not more so," she said.

"I also doubt what is written in The Golden Compass could undermine the work of our teachers."

Burlington student trustee Teanna Lobo took the opposite position.

"This is not something students should be exposed to," she said.

With all view points heard, trustees voted on whether to abide by the Book Review Committee's recommendation to return The Golden Compass to HCDSB library shelves.

The motion was defeated.

At this point Matters brought forward a motion of her own.

"That the book series by Philip Pullman, entitled 'His Dark Materials' be removed from the libraries of the Halton Catholic District School Board."

This motion passed.

Despite the Halton Catholic school board ban, The Golden Compass is popular with readers in Oakville. The Oakville Public Library reports a 59-person waiting list for its 10 copies, which have so far circulated a total of 1,065 times.

Copies of the book in cassette, CD and downloadable audio form are also in high demand with cassette and CD versions being circulating 143 times while 15 people remain on a waiting list.

"It's the movie and I think the hype with the school board is really secondary," said Jan Assing, Manager of Children's Collections, Oakville Public Library.

"I encourage anyone to read the series. It's on the scale of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in terms of how enduring it will be. It has been translated into 35 different languages and it has won all kinds of awards. Any award that's out there for children's literature it has won."