Selection or censorship?

I recently watched a webinar called, Three Ways Librarians Can Combat Censorship (SAGE Publishing, 2019). Three librarians provided three simple strategies for managing a highly controversial topic.

1. Have people you trust (and a robust selection policy) in your corner because those who challenge selection policies can come out swinging (metaphorically and literally – sadly).
2. Be committed to protecting people’s freedom to seek knowledge, even if you disagree with the content of the resource, and take care not to self-censor based on your own ideas and beliefs. This is a challenge for all school libraries, but particularly faith based schools, I imagine. And finally,
3. Your collection will tell students how much you value them. Including literature and resources that address gender diversity, for example, provides students with a voice and a safe place to be who they are at any moment.

Firmly embedded as the core of each strategy is the belief that students, children or members of the public have a fundamental freedom to read and pursue knowledge. Ideas that run counter to our own, or uncomfortable histories, have a place in every library. Some of the most controversial books of all time are now wonderful examples of literature or books important to understanding the evolution of thought.

• The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
• The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
• On Origin of the Species – Charles Darwin
• The Communist Manifesto – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel
• Mein Kampf – Adolf Hitler

And the list goes on.

Libraries are places to unlock knowledge of the world and should never close the door on ideas, even if they are different from our own (Lim, 2019).

A sacred quest, indeed.

References

Lim, A. (2019). In SAGE Publication (2019, Sept 24). Three Ways Librarians Can Combat Censorship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSxDIAuOCdI

One Man’s Blog (n.d.). The Worst Thing About Censorship Is…[Image]. https://thelukewarmersway.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/worst-thing-about-censorship.jpg

SAGE Publication (2019, Sept 24). Three Ways Librarians Can Combat Censorship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSxDIAuOCdI