Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
In discussions of censorship in my Foundations of Librarianship class, our professor defined censorship, as it relates to selection, as "to dismiss or reject a book on the basis of category." In other words, to make a decision to not select because the book is too expensive, or poorly written (according to reliable reviews), or of interest to a limited portion of the library's clientele, or, in the case of a school library, because the book doesn't meet curricular requirements, is not censorship. To reject a book because, and only because, it can be categorized as violent, politically inflammatory, not in keeping with the beliefs of the librarian,or can be categorized any other way, is censorship. There is plenty of dovetailing here. Librarians make selection decisions all the time based on selection criteria that is not categorical, even if the books not selected also happen to fall into a identifiably inflammatory category. The example that the professor gave, (and remember, this is his example, not necessarily mine) is Madonna's book, "Sex." Many libraries did not select that book as part of their collections and their justification for rejection was that the book was poorly reviewed, poorly written, and not worth the money (in truth, he used stronger language, but you get the picture). The fact that one might categorize the book as pornographic in addition to the reasons mentioned above didn't even have to enter the selection process. The professional opinion of librarians, based on legitimate and official criteria, was that the book was not worth placing in their libraries. Other librarians indeed might have chosen to include the book in their collections based on their own professional criteria. Perhaps there was a particular demand for that book by the patrons of those libraries, or perhaps there was room in the budget for that particular book. The point is, if a book is selected or rejected based upon professional criteria and selection policy of a library, not categorically, censorship is not at play. I realize that the example the professor used was chosen within the context of selection for a public library, but I think it is a valid example. The selection criteria for school libraries should follow similar guidelines, although the criteria would fit the school library. Jan Birney ===== Jan Birney, Computer Specialist Stratford Catholic Regional School System Stratford, CT 06615 stmark6614@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors: http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=