[LM_NET] OT: Sarah Palin defeated by principled Librarian in censorship dispute

[Rebecca Reitz <rebreitz@AOL.COM>]

 Dear Librarians,

Thought you might be interested in this news:
When Sarah Palin became mayor she approached the librarian about banning some 
books. The librarian refused, the librarian was fired, the community supported the 
librarian, Palin backed down. See today's NYT article "Palin's Start in Alaska". 
(Excerpt below).
~~~~~

Title: Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual
Published: September 2, 2008 in the New York Times.
Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. 
Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, 
though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were 
in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. 
Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some 
books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to 
her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at 
censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after 
taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. 
Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment 
for this article.

In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the 
conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”

***********************************************
Rebecca Reitz
Librarian
Science Te
chnology Library 
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
Phone: 718.699.0005 ext.360, 340
www.nyscience.org 
rreitz@nyscience.org




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