Banned Books

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Banned Books
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Censorship/Banning

• The practice of suppressing or deleting material
  considered to be objectionable.
• In libraries, this means removing titles from the
  library collection.

Fourie , Libraries in the Information Age , page
107
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History of Censorship

• As old as the printed word
• Restrictions on who could print
• Lists of unacceptable books (by religious groups)
• Facism/Communism (political reasons)

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• Every man in the development of his own
  personality has the right to form his own
  beliefs and opinions. Hence, suppression of
  belief, opinion and expression is an affront to
  the dignity of man, a negation of mans essential
  nature. Thomas Emmerson, Toward a General Theory
  of the First Amendment (Free Speech for Me . . .)

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Why Books are Challenged

• Sorcery/Witchcraft
• Moral Value (morally insensitive)
• Degrading/Destructive
• Hate Speech (fighting words)
• Isms Race, sex
• Stereotyping
• Politics (treason, insurrection)
• Nutrition
• Religion

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The Supreme Court has stated that books will be
pulled for these reasons for the common good

• Obscenity
• Child Pornography
• Defamation of Character
• Fighting Words
• National Security

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Censorship is enforced via

• Courts
• Laws
• Injunctions
• US Postal Service (Comstock Law - 1873)
• Fines (up to 5,000)
• Imprisonment (up to 5 years)
• Customs Bureau
• Tariffs (importation of foreign matter)
• Police
• Community Efforts

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Some Banned Books

• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine Lengle
• New Age Religion
• Encourages the belief in make believe
• Little Red Riding Hood, Jacob Wilhelm Grimm
• Presence of a bottle of wine promotes the use
  of alcohol
• James the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
• References to witchcraft
• Use of the word ass
• Promotes drugs and whiskey
• Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• For its depiction of the behavior of Scarlett
  O'Hara and the freed slaves
• Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh
• Considered dangerous because it teaches
  children to lie, spy, back-talk and curse
• Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
• Sexually offensive language, "a real downer"
• Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• Banned in China on the grounds that Animals
  should not use human language, and that it was
  disastrous to put animals and human beings on the
  same level. (Banned Books)

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Who should fight censorship?

• Publishers
• Writers
• Booksellers
• Educators
• Readers
• Librarians

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Tools of Defense

• First Amendment
• Freedom to Read
• Library Bill of Rights
• Written Selection Policy

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First Amendment

• Bill of Rights - Amendment I
• 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.

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Freedom to Read

• In a free society, there is no place for
  censorship of any medium of expression.
• The Office of Intellectual Freedom is charged
  with implementing ALA policies concerning the
  concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in
  the Library Bill of Rights, the Associations
  basic policy on free access to library materials.
  The goal of the office is to educate librarians
  and the general public about the nature and
  importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

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Library Bill of Rights

• Books and other library resources should be
  provided for the interest, information, and
  enlightenment of all people of the community the
  library serves. Materials should not be excluded
  because of the origin, background, or views of
  those contributing to their creation.
• Libraries should provide materials and
  information presenting all points of view on
  current and historical issues. Materials should
  not be proscribed or removed because of partisan
  or doctrinal disapproval.
• Libraries should challenge censorship in the
  fulfillment of their responsibility to provide
  information and enlightenment.
• Libraries should cooperate with all persons and
  groups concerned with resisting abridgment of
  free expression and free access to ideas.

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Materials Selection Policy

• Topic
• Reading Level
• Currency
• Demand
• Cost
• Authors Credentials
• Publisher or producers reputation
• Features of the material (index, etc.)
• Resource Sharing
• Available in other media
• Fourie , Libraries in the Information Age , page
  106

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Review Resources

• Library Journal
• Booklist
• NY Times Book Review
• Kirkus Service
• Hit List for Young Adults 2
• Book Review Digest

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• Books wont stay banned. They wont burn.
• Ideas wont go to jail. In the long run of
  history, the censor and the inquisitor have
  always lost.
• The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better
  ideas.
• The source of better ideas is wisdom.
• The surest path of wisdom is a liberal education.
• A. Whitney Griswold, American educator
• Johnson, Claudia, Stifled Laughter.

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. . . I often wonder whether we do not rest our
hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws,
upon courts. These are false hopes believe me,
these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the
hearts of men and women when it dies there, no
constitution, no law, no court can save it no
constitution, no law, no court can even do much
to help it. While it lies there it needs no
constitution, no law, no court to save it.
Learned Hand. (Free Speech for Me . . )