Public Library Censorship Judith F. Krug and Anne Levinson Penway Office for Intellectual Freedom American Library Association Chicago, Illinois The following article describes the ongoing assault on public library materials. It describes recent trends, common tactics of pressure group, and ways to fight back. Censorship attempts are on the rise, and public libraries are being targeted as never before. Demands that materials be removed or restricted in library collections soared in 1993. The pressure groups will not be appeased, and compromise only brings more demands for censorship. Censors can never be persuaded that materials they do not like should be available, particularly to children; likewise, they are rarely amenable to the argument that their right to voice their objections is the same right as that exercised by the authors and artists who created and disseminated the expression to which they object. Censors would violate others' right to read, while perceiving no threat to their own - and there are plenty of topics about which the censors believe one simply shouldn't be informed, and about which minors, particularly, should know nothing. In 1993, 697 challenges to books and library materials were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom. This compares with a total of 651 challenges in 1992 and 514 in 1991. There has been a steady increase in complaints about materials having to do with homosexuality or gay lifestyles. In 1991, only 40 of the challenges received were due to homosexual themes. In 1992, that number rose to 64 and in 1993, 111. There is no doubt that in 1993, homosexuality was at the top of the target list. The most challenged book of 1993 was Daddy's Roommate, by Michael Willhoite, a picture book designed to help children understand a non-traditional family setting. It is the story of a young boy whose parents are divorced and whose father is gay and lives with his "roommate." The book merely tries to make the point that non-traditional families are loving, too. But the title has engendered a storm of controversy nationwide in school districts and public libraries. Also on the list of the top ten most challenged books for 1993 are Heather Has Two Mommies, a story about lesbian parents, and The New Joy of Gay Sex. Sex is always high on the list, and the book which bears that title, Madonna's Sex, was the second most challenged title in 1993. Communities from North Carolina through Texas, Illinois, Colorado and Washington state fought heated battles over whether the title should be in library collections at all. Some libraries rejected it based not upon its content but its binding, contending it would fall apart almost immediately. Other libraries decided that since Sex was one of the most hyped titles in history, and since public interest was at a fever pitch, they were obligated to "give the public what it wants." The remaining titles on the "most challenged" list include classics, award winners, and titles that no librarian would be without: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson; Forever, by Judy Blume; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou; and two titles that reflect a continuing focus on witchcraft and Satanism - Alvin Schwartz's More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Roald Dahl's The Witches. Several techniques turn up frequently in pressure group attacks on libraries, some of them (arbitrarily nicknamed) include: Bait and Switch. Using highly controversial materials like Madonna's Sex or Playboy magazine to stir up lots of local controversy, and once that is done, shifting the focus to challenges to other materials by, about or depicting gays, or witchcraft, including scary stories and mythology. Divide and Conquer. "Yours is the only library in this county that has this stuff -- you are obviously out of line!" This is the technique used by groups who like to pit librarians against librarians, using some as weapons against others, without regard to any legitimate differences in selection criteria due to the needs of the service populations of various libraries. Let's Count Books. "You have 57 titles on evolution from a secular humanist point of view, and only 5 on Creation Science! Your collection is out of balance!" Numerical equivalence of titles from differing points of view under particular subject headings is not the way to evaluate library collections. The goal is to provide a diverse collection which includes adequate representation of the broadest variety of points of view possible. The Community is Us. This one goes, "you are unresponsive to the community -- you are ignoring community standards." This tactic presumes that the only community that counts is the one represented by the complainant, as if the First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech of everyone who thinks just like me." The Taxpayer's Revolt. "How dare you waste my tax dollars on this garbage! I should get to decide how my tax money is spent!" Contrary to popular belief, paying taxes does not buy the right to violate the rights of other taxpayers. If every taxpayer had a veto over library selections, the shelves would be empty. The most consistent thing about censors is that they are never content to regulate only their own reading or that of their own children. They believe they should decide for everyone what is appropriate, and if you don't agree, you're immoral, un-American, and a lousy parent. How do public libraries respond to challenges? Most have written selection guidelines that set forth the criteria under which materials will be selected for the collection. An important, and standard, element of such policies is a statement of principle on intellectual freedom, which declares that the library will strive to provide a diverse collection representing a broad selection of points of view on topics of current and historical interest for all users, and will not exclude materials just because they may be controversial or offensive to some people. Another essential element of such policies is the reconsideration procedure for responding to demands that materials be removed or restricted. Under such procedures, the patron completes a complaint form. The library director responds after a careful review of the materials in their entirety, explaining how those materials meet the criteria of the library's materials selection policy. If the patron is not satisfied with the library director's response, a reconsideration committee is formed. Each member of the committee reviews the materials under question in their entirety and weighs them against the criteria set forth in the materials selection policy. If the complainant is not satisfied with a committee determination, they appeal to the library board. At a board meeting, the community has an opportunity to view the First Amendment in action. It is possible to come out of such a meeting with new and committed supporters of intellectual freedom -- but there has to be someone there to use First Amendment rights to defend the First Amendment and win converts. The pressure groups have defined the playing field for now: local politics. Library supporters must assert their presence. If they do, defenders of the First Amendment may one day succeed in redefining the field to look more like what the founding fathers intended -- a free marketplace of ideas. =================================================== How to Win: A Practical Guide for Defeating the Radical Right in Your Community Copyright 1994 by Radical Right Task Force Permission is granted to reproduce this publication in whole or in part. All other rights reserved. For more information contact: Pat Lewis National Jewish Democratic Council 711 Second Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 544-7636 =================================================== This document is from the Politics section of the WELL gopher server: gopher://gopher.well.com/11/Politics/ Questions and comments to: gopher@well.com .