Listening to NPR this morning inspired me to start a project that has been a long time waiting-a Blog for the library. This is the first installation.
On Morning Edition, they talked about Banned Books Week (September 27-October 4) and how John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was banned soon after its publication in 1939. In the piece, Librarian Gretchen Knief said, "It such a vicious and dangerous thing to begin...Besides banning books is so utterly hopeless and futile. Ideas don't die because a book is forbidden reading."
Nielsen Library's Instruction Librarian Brooke Andrade participated on a panel this past weekend on KRZA to discuss Banned Books Week. Brooke discussed the children's book And Tango Makes Three, which topped the Banned Book list in 2007. The book caused a huge controversy spawning an outcry for the book to be pulled from library shelves. The book is about two male penguins who hatch a penguin egg and raise the chick together. Brooke talked about the importance of intellectual freedom. She said that people may be offended by the content of some books but they are important for a library collection in that these largely unheard voices and points of view be made available for all patrons. "Politics, religion, sex, witchcraft" are just some of the reasons a book may be challenged or banned according to Judith King of the American Library Association.
Another 1st Amendment issue concerning libraries is Internet access. A recent article written for the HeraldNet discusses open access to the Internet in public libraries despite complaints from patrons that pornography is being viewed on library terminals. The debate hinges on whether a filtering system is censorship or if it is a librarian's responsibility to control what patrons view. All of this stems from a larger debate that public libraries face. Through the Child Internet Protection Act or CIPA, public libraries receive funds which is contingent upon the installation of a software that filters websites allowing only those that may not have questionable material. Now, no software is perfect and if someone is looking for information about breast cancer or a sexually transmitted disease, will the software deny a patron access? These are some of the problems with filtering software and these are some of the issues when talking about intellectual freedom, censorship, and the right to read.
So celebrate your freedom to read, to express, exchange ideas. This is your book, this is your library, these are your ideas.
Paul
4 comments:
Banning book is a ridiculous practice. No one has the right to deem something offensive and deny other of something they may enjoy. The fact of the matter remains that if you do not like something then you are free to stay away from it. And, if you do not like something that people are involved in, do not associate with them. If people would put half as much energy into avoiding what they do not like as they do taking it away from other, we would not have as many censorship problem as we do today.
You make a great point. There is quite a process to fill out a "Request for Consideration of Material" form for the patron and for the staff of the library to review the "questionable" material.
Not all requests are without merit, but as you mentioned there are certain behaviors that one can choose in order to avoid the "offensive" material; one of them is to voice their opinion or educate yourself.
If one feels that certain material in a library or bookstore is encroaching on their beliefs, they can file a complaint or if they feel their child is in danger of harmful influence, talk with them about why they believe this is so.
But to take those choices from everyone around you is the point in question.
I was curious when you'd start this thing, maybe we can collaborate on a post sometime or something. See you...
And Tango Makes Three is a great book and is available at the ASC library (call number: Easy R5253 T). One thing that is frequently overlooked is that And Tango Makes Three is a true story. It is nonfiction. Two male penguins at the New York City's Central Park Zoo did pair up in a manner very similar to male-female pairs. They were given an extra egg to sit on, which hatched. The baby penguin was named Tango. The two fathers and Tango functioned as a family unit. Do the people who wish to ban this book believe it is okay to ban or ignore all facts that they dislike? Nowhere in this book is a single comment made about the morality of homosexuality or its appropriateness in humans.
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