[Publib] Censorship?

[Judy Anderson]

I agree that the librarian has no business censoring what anyone wants to 
read. (My daughter went through the Satanism phase and I read half of the 
Satanic bible and she read part of the regular Bible and some other religion 
books and became Buddhist.)

Anyway, my impression is that a lot of the kids asking for such things, or 
books on murder, torture, serial killers, and all the other shock worthy 
materials are doing it, in fact, to shock the librarian. The librarian 
should respond as they do to any other request and let the parent decide if 
it is appropriate.

Judy Anderson
Oregon
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>From: Sue Kamm <suekamm at mindspring.com>
>Reply-To: Sue Kamm <suekamm at mindspring.com>
>To: ax3090 at wayne.edu, publib at webjunction.org
>Subject: Re: [Publib] Censorship?
>Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:48:21 -0400 (EDT)
>
>
>
>
>That miasma you see rising in the west is the steam coming out of my ears 
><g>
>
>It is absolutely a violation of the Code of Professional Ethics and the 
>Library Bill of Rights!  Unfortunately, there's nothing we as a profession 
>can do about it.
>
>When I worked in a branch library, an eighth-grade student was looking for 
>books on Satanism.  I got them for him.
>
>Unless that kid was the child of the librarian, she had no right to censor 
>or disapprove his book selection.
>
>P.S.  It's very possible there were no books in the library.  Witchcraft 
>and the occult disappear around here at warp speed, along with civil 
>service test books for police officer.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ax3090 at wayne.edu
>Sent: Jun 12, 2006 3:18 PM
>To: publib at webjunction.org
>Subject: [Publib] Censorship?
>
>
>Hi,
>
>I'm just over half way through the MLIS progam at Wayne State University 
>and there's a question that has been weighing on my mind.
>
>Last fall, I spent quite a bit of time observing the reference desk at an 
>area library.  One afternoon, a boy of about 11 or 12 came up to the desk 
>to find out if the library had any information on devil worship.  Without 
>saying a word, the librarian took the boy to the section where the 
>information was located and, a few minutes later, both came back 
>empy-handed.  She said, "I guess it must have been stolen" as he walked 
>away.  Then she leaned over and whispered to me, "Sometime I tell them we 
>don't even have it."  At the time, I thought, "Wow!  What a blatant act of 
>censorship."  But now, after a few more library observations, I'm wondering 
>if this is more common than I thought.  Are people acting in loco parentis 
>based on the values of their communities or is it overt censorship?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jennifer
>
>
>Your friendly CyberGoddess and Councilor-at-large,
>Sue Kamm
>Inglewood/Los Angeles, CA
>Truest of the Blue, Los Angeles Dodgers Think Blue Week 2000
>email:  suekamm [at] mindspring.com
>When you absolutely, positively HAVE to know, ASK A LIBRARIAN!


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