Trying to find a reflection in murky waters is almost impossible. I feel that may also be the case when searching for a library without censorship.
Is the act of not choosing a book while conducting collection building an act of censorship? I think the answer comes down to why the librarian did not choose to purchase a title or choose another one in its place. Personal views, perceived views of community values, preferred supplier, budgetary constraints and state or department laws and regulations may all play a part in the final decision. Some or all of these could be seen as a driver of censorship.
As the librarian I am supposed to be a ‘William Wallace’ for readers, protecting their rights of freedom, no matter the cost. ALIA goes so far as to say that if we don’t have unrestricted access to ideas and information within a democracy, our very freedom is at risk. I feel that in reality, many librarians, myself included, make decisions that censor what goes onto shelves because titles are not age appropriate, the content may be too graphic or on a controversial topic.
After reading on the issue of censorship, I felt the need to reflect on my own processes of title selection within my library. Some of the questions I found myself asking were on issues that had already begun to form in mind.
First and foremost, was I scholastifying (turning my library into a Scholastic catalogue) the library? Scholastic is my main supplier of choice for convenience and for spending book club rewards. My concern was that I was not putting varied publishers on the shelf. I know need to consider that by limiting myself to one main supplier, I may be denying students the opportunity to access other titles and resources that could be of a better quality, more suitable or more engaging for them.
Secondly, was creating a restricted shelf for year 5/6 borrowers the right thing to do? I did this because I felt the content of the books was too mature for younger readers. Have I unintentionally self-censored some of my younger readers who may be mature enough to read these titles?
Having a clear selection process for titles would help remove the potential for censorship provided the parameters set were not an act of censorship within themselves (e.g. resource must not include …) and also gives the librarian a defence as to why a title was selected in the first place.
Perhaps I may find my own reflection yet.
The following were read before this blog was written:
Jenkinson, D. (2002). Selection and censorship: It’s simple arithmetic. School libraries in Canada, 2(4), 22.
Lukenbill, W.B. (2007). Censorship: What do school library specialists really know? School Library Media Research, 10. http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol10/SLMR_Censorship_V10.pdf
School Library Journal. (2016). Controversial books survey .