While browsing INSPIRE to locate articles for our leader discussion project, I came across an interesting article that I wanted to use for my first blog posting.
I found this interesting article titled Killing Books in Horn Book Magazine ; Mar/Apr94, Vol. 70 Issue 2, p132-133, 2p.
This article contends that violence against books is underway in United States schools and libraries. Examples of attempts by parents to remove books they find objectionable or contrary to their own lifestyle are provided. A comment by John Milton on censorship is quoted. The responsibility to keep books from being killed off in this way is stressed.
In one of the first eloquent statements against censorship, John Milton wrote in Areopagitica: "As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature; but he who destroys a book kills reason itself, the image of God."
While newspaper headlines decry the violence in schools, another pernicious use of violence is being enacted in America's schools and libraries. As I have traveled across the country over the past year, stories from concerned librarians, teachers, and booksellers have made me aware of how as a society we are fighting for the book. I am not talking about fighting for the book in terms of illiteracy or video games, but fighting literally to keep children's and young-adult books in collections.
Censorship of children's books is, of course, nothing new under the sun. But what we are experiencing in this wave of book-banning seems different. We have all struggled with the issue of book selection vs. censorship, or objections to those books that have, since their publication, created controversy among their readers. But this new brand of censorship involves parents trying to remove any book, from a bookstore or library, that they find in any way objectionable or contrary to their own lifestyle. And when the book can't be removed by normal procedure, it has simply been stolen from the shelves.
The reasons given for objections to books can take one's breath away: Where's Waldo (Little), for a partially nude female figure on the beach (who even has the time to find her?); The Noisy Giants' Tea Party (Harper), for two tiny vignettes in the book, one depicting drunks outside a tavern; Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (Bradbury), because the parents are divorced and the mother has a boyfriend. (Like most readers, you may consider Paulsen's book a great survival story, not a commentary on contemporary mores.) Ironically, two of the books under attack are those great Christian fantasies, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Macmillan), for the witch, and A Wrinkle in Time (Farrar). In case you have trouble figuring out the objection to the latter, it is because of that infamous trio, Mrs. What, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Those burdened by an understanding of grammar have trouble thinking of Mrs. Which as a symbol of satanism.
As these examples indicate, books are being challenged across the country not because of the fabric of their being, but for anything that might in any way offend someone. There is nothing that can be printed without offending someone. The only way not to offend anyone is to have no books, no libraries -- and ultimately no freedom of speech or thought.
Most of us who have worked long with books and with children believe that books can make a difference in their lives; like the censors, we understand the extraordinary power of the book. The poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko once said that he would rather live in the Soviet Union where he could be killed for what he wrote, than live somewhere else and have his writing make no difference. In the end, it is still positive that we believe what is printed and published for children is worth fighting over. But we are at a time when we must fight for the diversity of the literature that we present to children. Every time a librarian, a teacher, or a bookseller defends the right to keep a single book in a single collection, it is an act of bravery -- and an act of immense importance.
There are no simple answers or solutions. But all of us need to affirm that we have a responsibility to keep books from being killed -- that we must keep "reason itself, the image of God" alive.
Personal Thoughts:
“The more things change, the more they stay the same”. After reading this article which is approximately fifteen years old, I am surprised that in 2009 we are still struggling with censorship issues in schools and libraries. In this article John Milton makes a very powerful and profound statement that today “we are dealing with a new brand of censorship which involves parents trying to remove any book, from a bookstore or library, that they find any objectionable or contrary to their lifestyle”. After reading this statement several times, his thoughts are very true.
How many librarians in class have noticed a frequent increase of materials not being returned or even stolen?
Well I have!! -- As a librarian for the Jeffersonville Township Public Library, I have recently noticed a great increase of library materials that have been either not returned or simply disappeared. Yet, until I read this article I did not relate this situation to possibly being a censorship issue. It’s sad that in these day and times, some people are trying to control libraries. Do we really want to shelter or growing children from every sensitive issue in the world such as racism, homosexuality, abuse, etc. --- What would a world be like with millions of naive children/young adults wandering through life? Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t feel children/young adults should be exposed to any and everything, but I do feel children/young adults need to be educated on the many things that can or will happen in life.
Also, I personally believe all the library users should be entitled to access information form their local library. After all a library is a collection of sources, resources, and services for public use. I personally feel a librarian should NOT be able to deny anyone access to any type of information. I believe some librarians simply forget and even ignore “The Freedom To Read Statement” (http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm)
Along with my personal thoughts on librarians, I feel all parents should monitor what their children read. I feel parents need to advise/suggest specific reading materials for their children and their children only. I also feel a parent should NOT be able to deny an entire library community the right to read a certain book. Like John Milton’s mentions “There is nothing that can be printed without offending someone”. The only way not to offend anyone is to have no books, no libraries---and ultimately no freedom or speech or thought”.
Questions – Food for Thought!!
What is your take on this article that was published in 1994, have we made any progress in 2009 regarding censorship matters?
Do you feel librarians have a right to prohibit/restrict a child from reading a certain book? Do you feel this restriction may hinder a child from being an active reader?
3 comments:
Kimberly,
In the article that you provided it was revealed that people were stealing books after they were not able to remove them by going through the reconsideration process. After these books were stolen they were probably either thrown away or destroyed.
It is shocking how often books and sometimes even whole libraries are destroyed. For example, in Sarajevo in 1992, during the war in Bosnia, the Bosnian National and University Library was deliberately bombed. This was an attempt to destroy the culture in Bosnia.
Roger Barnes
Even though the article revealed that people were stealing books after they were not able to remove them by the reconsideration process, I feel most libraries lose library materials, because some people do not even attempt to use the reconsideration process nor are they aware that this document/procedure exits in a library. With that being, said I personally that's what happening in my library. Some parents are simply acting as censors and simply removing the book for our collection without even speaking with a librarian or being informed about the Freedom to Read statement.
Thanks
Kim ;)
It's true, there are those out there who want everyone else to live by their values and ideas and will use any means to accomplish this. I new that censorship was still a problem in the U.S., but didn't know it was as big of an issue as it is until last semester when we discussed it in reference class. I don't think that its right to deny someone else information just because I don't agree with it. Stealing is wrong no matter the reason. What does it say about those people who will break the law in order to further there goal? I'd call them intellectual terrorists.
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