Banned Books Week

A focus on Intellectual Freedom and Censorship

Salmon Rushdie

George Orwell Judy Bloom Mark Twain Erich Maria Remarque Richard Wright

Jack London Boris Pasternak J. D. Salinger Sir Thomas Paine

What is Banned Books Week?

• Banned Books Week is a yearly world-wide ALA-sponsored week of events.

• The ALA is fervently against any form of censorship, fully supporting intellectual freedom.

• Banned Books Week is intended to celebrate the freedom to choose and the freedom to express one’s opinion, even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.

• Banned Books Week also stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

What is Banned Books Week?

• The majority of the books featured during the week are not banned, but “merely” challenged.

• However, a challenge is an attempt to ban or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A successful challenge would result in materials being banned or restricted.

• The efforts of librarians and other intellectual freedom activists allow most works to remain in collections.

Why are books challenged?

• Books usually are challenged to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information.

• Most librarians see challenges as grounded in good intention and pure in conviction, but they are ultimately illegal and restrictive.

• Books are often challenged by people and groups of all persuasions.

• Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other

• By Nat Hentoff

2005 Trends

• “Only” 405 books were challenged in 2005.

• “Only” 44 books were removed from the shelf in 2005.

• The website “www.ala.org” has lists of banned books for review.

ISSUES SURROUNDING BANNED BOOKS

• First Amendment Rights

• Intellectual Freedom

• Family Values

• Political Views

What is Intellectual Freedom?

“Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas.”

– American Library Association

Our Laws Support Intellectual Freedom

• Our laws, starting with the first amendment to our constitution, support the right to intellectual freedom

• CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES.

– ratified December 15, 1791

The American Issue:“Family Values”

• The want to preserve “family values” drives much of the debate over book challenges.

• Upfront Informed Parental Consent/Parents Against Bad Books In Schools (PABBIS)

• kidSPEAK • ALA Library Bill of Rights

The Most Frequently Challenged Book of 2005

The nature of the Challenge

• “Page 73 of the 1996 paperback edition lists nine reasons to have an abortion, capped by this masterpiece of moral anorexia: ‘The female did not want or intend to become pregnant.’ There are no reasons offered not to have an abortion.”– Lee Duigon, Concerned Women for America

• “It is one of those sex education books trumpeted by the experts as being just what our children need. Never mind that it contains all kinds of graphic illustrations. Never mind that it tells our children that it's okay to engage in all kinds of sexual activity. Never mind the fact that any normal person can just look at its contents and tell immediately it's kiddie porn.”– Jim Sedlak, American Life League

In Support of “Its Perfectly Normal”

• “[It’s Perfectly Normal] was one way of giving kids and teens information about staying healthy. We as adults — no matter what our values — want our kids to stay healthy as they grow up, and in particular, through those very difficult adolescent years. And one thing we can do is to educate them and give them honest, up-to-date, and accurate information that's clear and accessible to them. – Robie H. Harris, Author of “Its Perfectly Normal”

• "This caring, conscientious, and well-crafted book will be a fine library resource as well as a marvelous adjunct to the middle-school sex-education curriculum... Children will find this a comforting, informative precursor to Lynda Madaras' book on puberty; librarians will find it well worth fighting for if, by some chance, the need arises." – Booklist

How modern Libraries Address Challenged Books

• Once a book is challenged, the work is reevaluated by the entire department to determine whether it complies with the department’s collection mission.

• A department’s “collection mission” is a statement of intent aimed at keeping a library department’s selection process focused on providing relevant and rich information to the public.

• Sometimes a book may be passed on to the library board for determination.

• If the book is determined to be within the department’s collection mission, it will remain in circulation, no matter how many times it is challenged.

Brief Discussion

• This is not a political debate! Remember to stay focused on the issues of librarianship, please…

• Is the Carnegie Library’s method of addressing book challenges fair? Do you have any suggestions to improve upon this strategy?

• Do you think it is right for librarians to make the ultimate decision regarding what works stay and what works are removed from the shelves? Does this make librarians an “information vanguard?

• Is it legitimate for librarians to declare intellectual freedom as king? What about what the community wants in their library?

Books That Have Been Banned

Ulysses, by James Joyce• Barred from the United States as obscene for 15

years• Seized by U.S Postal Authorities in 1918 and

1930.• Ban lifted in 1933 as a result of advocates’

actions.

Books That Have Been Banned

Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman• Withdrawn in Boston in 1881 for the use of

explicit language in some poems.• Later published in Philadelphia.

Taking the Issue Further

How should librarians deal with truly inflammatory works, such as extremist literature?

What is the librarian’s responsibility to the community at that point?

Where the Issue Becomes Difficult…

• Do you consider libraries banning or not carrying extremist literature as censorship? Should libraries ever carry books of this nature?

• Many libraries avoid this trap by setting standards for selection which involve only carrying book which have received wide positive reviews from respected journals and magazines. Ernst Zündel

Library 2.0

Do Libraries Still Matter?

Library 2.0 (L2)

A complex concept with many divergent and conflicting views

stemming about the library world of the future in relation to technology.

Walt Crawford

Library 2.0 doesn’t (or shouldn’t) allow for a concise definition.

Walt Crawford

Wikipedia/Casey/Bisson

L2 is a model for modernizing libraries that borrows many concepts and technologies from Web 2.0. The goals are to promote a participatory role for library patrons, and to

facilitate libraries’ capacity to adapt

Examples of L2 Technology• Interacting websites• Virtual reference• Personalized OPAC interfaces (LibraryThing.com)• Wikis (Saint Joseph County Public Library in South Bend, IN)• Blogs (beiffert.net/liblog) (Banned Books)• Tags• Podcasts• Screencasting• RSS• Toolbars• Personalized library web pages• Writely and Writeboard• Electronic access to top-quality databases• Downloadable audiobooks and music• Instant messaging reference services

L2 Affects Individuals

• Better informed

• More involved

• Communication on many levels

• Wider scope of interest

L2 Affects Libraries

• Book discussion groups can take place asynchronously

• Patrons can interact with data

• A wider variety of patrons will be drawn to the library

• The system invites and embraces change

L2 Affects Communities• Bring together the knowledge of community members

• Community knowledge is available to all

• Local history, through stories as well as archives will be preserved

• A community's uniqueness can be celebrated, through history,handicrafts, heritage, recipes, lore, and much more

• A larger number of community members will have an interest in the library

Implementing L2

• Determine needs

• Determine resources

• Develop goals and a plan

• Make it a collaboration between staff and users

• Implement slowly, even piecemeal

• Frequent and extensive evaluation

Topics To Consider

• What are the expectations of a library by most people?

• What would an ideal L2 entail? Is this a realistic model for the real world?

• How is L2 influenced by W2?

• How can libraries remain vital to the public they serve?

• What are your views about L2? Is it a viable link for the future of librarians or is it insignificant hype?