labels as censors

[Carrie Gardner <carrieif@AOL.COM>]

Greetings,

It could also be argued that any labeling is a form of censorship.  Labels
indicate how one or a group of people perceive a resource.   The presence of a
label will always "turn off" members of certain groups of patrons.  For
example, I don't read science fiction for pleasure.  When I see a book labeled
science fiction, I don't read it.  For more on this, see the ALA Library Bill of
Rights Statement on Labeling.


http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/stateme
ntlabeling.htm

Carrie Gardner
Assistant Professor
Catholic University of America
Washington D.C.

In a message dated 2/28/2004 11:13:18 PM Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU writes:

Joanne -

You posted:

> I use genre stickers on my fiction books so
> students will be able to go directly to the
> shelves and choose an appropriate book for
> a book report.

> Because many of our advanced students were
> choosing books that were too easy, I use
> the "Advanced Reader" stickers to designated
> books that have a higher reading level or
> have higher content.  Is this considered
>"censorship by labeling"?

I think you are labeling in order to help students
FIND material.  What you are doing is facilitating use
of materials.  Even my local library uses stickers to
label books topically, i.e. mysteries, inspirational
books, NC authors/settings, sci-fi, etc.

Labeling in order to PREVENT or RESTRICT usage is what
I would consider "censorship by labeling."  If I
remember correctly, the initial post in this thread
dealt with parents who wanted the librarian to label
books containing information related to evolution,
because this concept is counter to their personal
religious beliefs.  Their goal is to cause children to
*avoid* those books, concepts and ideas.

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