There’s a post on Future Librarians for Intellectual Freedom about an interesting article: Mom checked out racy teen books from library—and she won’t give them back. A woman who decided that Gossip Girl books her daughter checked out are inappropriate refuses to return them to the library. She’s had them since 2008. She doesn’t want them banned but demands they be labeled. The library refused but did offer to put them in the adult section, which didn’t satisfy her.
I was really surprised someone would just take it upon themselves to remove books like that. She says she wants a say in what circulates at the library because she’s a taxpayer. What about all the other taxpayers who use the library and happen to like Gossip Girl? If you don’t like it, don’t check it out or don’t allow your children to, but don’t prevent me from making my own choice about what I read. It sounds like this lady definitely has the authoritarian personality and serious control issues described in the article by Dr. Fine about the mind of a censor.
Something that really hit me hard was that she used the library’s use of filters against them in her argument – “Harden questions how the library can enforce an Internet policy that restricts access to certain content but not place limitations on books.” The library responded with the only thing it could, I guess. It said that it has to abide by the CIPA rules since it accepts government funding. I hadn’t considered how using internet filters undermines your argument for intellectual freedom when dealing with challenges to other materials.
Something that really hit me hard was that she used the library’s use of filters against them in her argument – “Harden questions how the library can enforce an Internet policy that restricts access to certain content but not place limitations on books.” The library responded with the only thing it could, I guess. It said that it has to abide by the CIPA rules since it accepts government funding. I hadn’t considered how using internet filters undermines your argument for intellectual freedom when dealing with challenges to other materials.
I also find it interesting that the woman apparently does not consider it theft.
ReplyDeleteIt's something of a failing in the ALA's intellectual freedom statement that it's so absolutist. I understand the sentiment and agree with it, but in real life librarians have to make compromises between their belief in IF and local, state, and federal mandated censorship, not to mention the fact that local taxpayers pay the bills and demand certain "community standards."
Claiming an absolutist intellectual freedom mantle while filtering computers does smack of hypocrisy. The problem is we really have no choice; we can't relent on either one.
Here’s an update on this story: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-05-07/news/os-gossip-girl-books-returned-20100506_1_library-harden-books. The mother returned the books because she figured the media coverage increased the public awareness about this series even if the library refused to label the books.
ReplyDeleteI think there’s an important distinction between Internet filters and restrictions on books. The Internet is so expansive and changes so quickly that a librarian cannot check every site to make sure everything is ok. Only the machines can cover so much data in the time available. Individual books, however, are finite. The librarian can read the book (or read a review by someone who has read the book) to determine whether it is appropriate for the collection, and the contents of that book are going to remain the same; the librarian will not need to go back in a week to make sure the content is still appropriate.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Jennifer! I guess I can't really call her a book thief now. It was interesting to read that the reaction to this story was strongly against her yanking and hiding the books rather than an uproar about how inapproriate the Gossip Girl novels are.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the last paragraph in your post I agreed and thought it seemed something of a paradox. After some thought though, I found a different way of looking at it. Libraries do "filter" books in the extent of only purchasing books that fit within a collection development policy. I suppose in some ways that could be more restrictive than internet filtering given the human element.
ReplyDeleteAccording to a friend who works at our local public library (Allen County Public Library), a similar situation happened there. You used be able to renew books an unlimited number of times as long as no one else had them on hold, but they had to change their policy after a woman came to the children's section, checked out all the books that had anything to do with sex/anatomy, and kept them in the trunk of her car while renewing over and over again. Now I think you can renew them a total of five times, but I guess it still doesn't stop people from making themselves censors. It makes you wonder what these people are thinking - why would they have the right to control what other people's kids read?? It's also a kind of censorship that's difficult for the library to stop - if someone specifically checks out books so that other people can't read them, what can the library do about it? If they order more copies, the person could just check those out too. I guess the only way someone would access it would be by request, but especially if it's on a sensitive topic the patron wanting the material may not be willing to do that.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jennifer's comment: I agree that the following the CIPA is not hypocrisy because the internet is so dynamic. In addition, a librarian can usually find reviews of a book and determine if there is anything in it that would not follow their selection policy for children. When a child is on the internet, they move through websites so fast that the only way to make sure they are not getting into areas that are not fitting with the library's policy is to use a filter.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spaink.net/cos/mpoulter/scum/stealing.html
ReplyDeleteThis is a site that has a supposed deposition from an operative of the Church of Scientology. Apparently, the church has its members go and check out books from the library, then report them lost, stolen...or not at all. Whether or not its a hoax, I couldn't tell you, but my supervisor at work is the one who first told me about the story.
I saw a case like in this in Kentucky not too long ago, but the offenders were two library employees. They actually went into library records and saw that one of the people with a hold on a graphic novel was an 11 year old girl. Taking it upon themselves to decide what someone else's kid could read, they checked out the book repeatedly. They ended up being fired for violating library policy, and the library moved some of its graphic novel collection into the adult section of the library(where it probably should be in the first place). I think the section was originally near the young adult section.
ReplyDeleteI have not personally experienced this situation (I work in an elementary school) however, I am told it happens frequently in high school library media centers. Some students and adults believe they have the right to mark out passages of text, steal books outright (no check out, just steal), or write hate speech in the margins.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of stealing, sometimes books are stolen, because the patron is embarrassed to check out the book. Elementary students steal books that are about famous TV, movie, or sports personalities. I've noticed graphic novels come up missing a lot too.
This is a "off topic" but I wonder how much theft is expected in a public or school library. I know I'm missing about 50 books from a 13,000 item collection. Stores expect some lost from theft each year. Do libraries?
Thanks for sharing all these stories! It's been an eye opener. I really didn't know how common this issue is in libraries before this discussion. The case where library employees were involved is particularly troubling. I bet a lot of this goes undetected too.
ReplyDeleteJennifer - I think that libraries do expect some loss and theft each year. I interviewed the head of the audio/visual department at my local library for another class. She said she spends much more of her budget than she'd like replacing DVDs over and over. I thought it was just people who wanted to keep the DVD, but maybe part of it is patrons trying to censor.
I heard about this story. I think it was crazy for the mother to hold on to these books. The library agreed to move the books to the adult area. She is the parent, it is her responsibility for what her child checks out. What about the series on television? Would she complain to the network that it should not be on. Its crazy. Gossip Girl is FICTION....she needs to realize it is up to her to monitor what her child checks out and she shouldnt prevent anyone else the opprotunity to check out the series.
ReplyDeleteI happen to like the series ;) However, our titles are in the Adult section. I could see how a parent may not want their daughter reading it, but again she should monitor what her child checks out- not other patrons.