Censorhip Can Be A Good Thing

Librarians are the keepers and sharers of knowledge. There are codes and ethics in place for librarians to ensure that everyone has access to all information, regardless of their age, race, sex, religion, or anything else. But there are times when censorship may be necessary. Have you ever been to a public library where the person at the computer terminal next to you decided to turn it into a personal pornography station? Is this really good use of a library's resources? Some libraries have filters or blocks for inappropriate web material, and it may not be a bad thing. Or what about young children who want to check out material that has way too much adult content for them? There are books and publications out there that were never meant to be read by young people. When young people do get their hands on them, should librarians put a stop to it? It's just easy to say that all librarians everywhere should support access to all information by all people. But that may not always be the case. Sometimes censorship can actually be a good thing. Sometimes it can be a necessary evil.

ALA's Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2009

Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of the top ten most challenged or banned books of the year. The list for 2009 is an interesting one. It contains some books that have been challenged since they've been around; Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. But there are also some interesting newer books on the list. Richardson and Parnell's And Tango Makes Three is number two on the list because "apparently gay flightless waterfowl pose a serious threat to the moral fiber of our nation" (www.flashlightworthybooks.com). Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, which is about a family of vampires, is blocked because it is too sexually explicit. There are more books on the list that I didn't mention, but the fact that many of them are banned or challenged is mind boggling. The link to ALA's complete list, and the link to another site with the same list but with more information about each book and why they are banned are below.

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/april2010/mostchallenged2009_oif.cfm

http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/The-10-Most-Challenged-Books-of-2009/606

Librarians May Be Censors Too

Stories of librarians confronting censorship are common and it is a phenomenon that occurs even in the present day. Just last month a borrower in Longwood, Florida refused to return several volumes because she felt that the “materials were inappropriate for minors” (Jackson, 2006, May 6). In 2006, a reference librarian at Ohio State University faced harassment charges from four faculty members at his own institution. Their claim was that several items that the librarian had recommended created a hostile workplace environment. (Albanese, 16) In both of these cases, the conflict was resolved, with the librarians triumphant over the forces of censorship.

Librarians pride themselves on a long history of resisting censorship and they celebrate their struggle to provide full access for all users. In fact, the American Library Association even acknowledges the fight against censorship through awards such as the “Intellectual Freedom Award” and “The John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award.” So, it’s hard to imagine a Librarian that would knowingly act as a censor, but at times, librarians can be censors also. Censorship is, after all, a case of omission, and when the actions of a librarian lead to any form of omission, they are in reality, actions of censorship. Filtering programs for school computers block students’ access to information and too often, librarians do not resist the use of filtering programs. This lack of resistance is nothing more that tacit acceptance of censorship. Doug Johnson (2010) describes filtering of school computers as “a sin of omission as much as commission because too many of us are just willing to let is happen” (p. 48). In the case of the Ohio State University reference librarian, one of the complaints in the harassment charge was that the recommendations were biased, and in essence, omitted pertinent materials representing alternative view points (Albanese, 2006, p. 16).

Consider, also, the librarian’s role as steward of a collection. When a collection has been built through a fair and rigorous selections process, the librarian must preserve that collection. Items that are missing, stolen, lost or damaged, should be replaced or repaired. Inaction that leads to an omission from a collection has the same results as censoring that same item, but in this case, the librarian is playing the role of the censor. It is worth pointing out, that in the Longwood, Florida case of the borrower refusing to return items to the library, many people made donations in an effort to restore the items to the collection. So many donations, in fact, that the library had to stop accepting further donations (Jackson, 2010, May 7).

The librarian’s resistance to censorship is tied to a basic tenant of librarianship--preservation of the human record. Building a collection through an inclusive selection process and active stewardship of collections are basic elements in the resistance to censorship.

Albanese, Andrew. (2006). Controversy at OSU-Mansfield. Library Journal, 131 (9), 16.

Cain, Charlene C. (2006). Librarians and Censorship: The Ethical Imperative. Louisiana Libraries, 68 (3), 6-8.

Jackson, Rachael. (2010 May 6). Mom checked out racy teen books from library – and she won’t give them back. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-05-06/news/os-longwood-library-gossip-girl-books20100505_1_library-notes-library-services-manager-library-policy.

Jackson, Rachael. (2010 May 7). Gossip Girl-inspired books returned to public library. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_momsatwork/?p=5356.

Johnson, Doug. (2010). Censorship by Ommision. Library Media Connection, 28 (4). 48-49.

So what would you do? Imagine that you are the head of a public library. The city council tells you that a certain book can no longer be checked out or possessed by the library. It is banned. Would you agree with this ban and leave it alone? Or would you fight back and try to get the book back on the shelves? Are librarians are responsible for making all information accessible to all people, or do some things just not belong in libraries? More specifically, was Ms. Knief right in the way she handled the banning of The Grapes of Wrath? Or should she have done more to fight it? Books will always get banned, and librarians must continually find ways to deal with this censorship. So how should they deal with it?

The Grapes of Wrath

Many books have been banned over the years from schools, libraries, or other public places. This could be because they are deemed as inappropriate, anti-American, or just because they tell a story that certain people don't want told. An interesting example of this occurred in the late 1930s in California's Kern County Public Libraries. The Grapes of Wrath is a John Steinbeck novel that tells the story of the Joad family. The Joads fight drought during the dust bowl in Oklahoma, and are forced to move to California where they must deal with low wages and poor treatment from the California farmer who employ them. Soon after The Grapes of Wrath was published, it was banned from Kern County's Free Library. No book had ever been banned from this library system, so this act was both unprecedented and controversial (Lingo 351).

One of the most interesting things about this situation is the actions, or lack of actions, that the head of the Kern County Free Library took. Librarian Gretchen Knief complied with the ban of the book by the county's board of supervisors. She did make some copies of the book available and kept secret the actual number of books that the library had, but she did nothing to fight the ban, nor did she speak at any of the following board meetings in which the ban was challenged (366). She continued to comply and did very little to fight the ban until it was finally lifted in 1941 (372).



Lingo, Marci. Forbidden fruit: The banning of The Grapes of Wrath in the Kern County Free Library. Libraries & Culture, 38(4), 351-377.

Sarah Palin Accused of Censorship

It is very easy and popular to critize political figures, but this story seems to have some credibility. In short, Sarah Palin, while Mayor of Wasilla, pressured the city's librarian to censor a book. After that encounter, Mayor Palin terminated the librarian. In the end, the town supported the librarian and the Mayor had to back down. ABC found it credible enough for an investigation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZII0GjcJMus

ALA Freedom to Read Statement

Follow this link to the Freedom to Read Statement at the American Library Association site:

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm