I just spent some time considering the topic of censorship. My first thoughts were about free and open access to information. If I, as a librarian, have a professional commitment to intellectual freedom and free access to information, I foresee some problems with my particular situation.
First off, intellectual freedom and free access to information is strongly supported in democratic society. I completely support it as well. While the school I work(ed) supports democratic beliefs, I can't say that my host country does. How am I supposed to write this into my library policies when doing so can contradict the beliefs of the country in which I live? Please, I'd love suggestions here.
I read an article by Doug Johnson who mostly addressed the issue of internet censorship in schools. My reaction to this is unique I believe, because our school does not censor sites that many schools do. However, we are faced with great censorship problems at a national level. Although I appreciate Johnson's suggestions on ways to possibly address the problem, they are assuming that I might be able to reason with policy makers. In my case, there isn't a fat chance that's going to happen.
Secondly, Both Moody and Jenkinson's articles really shed some light on the practice of censorship by librarians. Essentially, we may have a tendency to censor books or resources because "someone" will find them offensive. I fall into this boat. I have been known to tell our librarian about resources that I thought were inappropriate, or pass along messages from parents who had comments about certain books. While reading these articles, I was forced to think about whose standards I was using, when deciding what was inappropriate.
For example, there was a European book in our library (in their language) which had cartoon illustrations, and it was about being at the beach. Many of the characters were nude. My initial reaction was that (as a teacher of 9 year-olds) my students would grab this book and share it with their friends and do nothing but laugh at it. I thought the book was inappropriate for young kids. However, I know that in Europe, nudity is not always as big of a deal as it is for Americans. I was applying my own standards, and probably the standards of many American children, on my international school. I was falling into what Jenkinson calls "community standards" and was assuming that the standard we employ is one where no one is offended by anything. In reality, people always face the chance of be offended if exposed to different points of view. That is how we grow and learn, and become more well-rounded open-minded individuals. Of course, when we face adversity, we should be coached, guided, or have the chance to learn and ask questions. Those are learning opportunities. However, sometimes we just want to avoid this.
In thinking about this, I continue to wonder how such problems are addressed. I suppose something should probably be written into our policy, defining what is unacceptable, and what to do when faced with a challenge. What is our stance? It would be easier to defend my practice if it were backed by policy approved by the school board. I'm just not exactly sure how to go about this. Samples? Suggestions?
References:
Jenkinson, D. (2002). Selection and censorship: It’s simple arithmetic. School libraries in Canada, 2(4), 22
Johnson, D. (2010) Censorship by omission. Library Media Connection, Vol. 28(4), 48-49
Moody, K. (2005). Covert censorship in libraries: A discussion paper. Australian Library Journal, 54(2), 138-147. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/alj/54.2/full.text/moody.html
First off, intellectual freedom and free access to information is strongly supported in democratic society. I completely support it as well. While the school I work(ed) supports democratic beliefs, I can't say that my host country does. How am I supposed to write this into my library policies when doing so can contradict the beliefs of the country in which I live? Please, I'd love suggestions here.
I read an article by Doug Johnson who mostly addressed the issue of internet censorship in schools. My reaction to this is unique I believe, because our school does not censor sites that many schools do. However, we are faced with great censorship problems at a national level. Although I appreciate Johnson's suggestions on ways to possibly address the problem, they are assuming that I might be able to reason with policy makers. In my case, there isn't a fat chance that's going to happen.
Secondly, Both Moody and Jenkinson's articles really shed some light on the practice of censorship by librarians. Essentially, we may have a tendency to censor books or resources because "someone" will find them offensive. I fall into this boat. I have been known to tell our librarian about resources that I thought were inappropriate, or pass along messages from parents who had comments about certain books. While reading these articles, I was forced to think about whose standards I was using, when deciding what was inappropriate.
For example, there was a European book in our library (in their language) which had cartoon illustrations, and it was about being at the beach. Many of the characters were nude. My initial reaction was that (as a teacher of 9 year-olds) my students would grab this book and share it with their friends and do nothing but laugh at it. I thought the book was inappropriate for young kids. However, I know that in Europe, nudity is not always as big of a deal as it is for Americans. I was applying my own standards, and probably the standards of many American children, on my international school. I was falling into what Jenkinson calls "community standards" and was assuming that the standard we employ is one where no one is offended by anything. In reality, people always face the chance of be offended if exposed to different points of view. That is how we grow and learn, and become more well-rounded open-minded individuals. Of course, when we face adversity, we should be coached, guided, or have the chance to learn and ask questions. Those are learning opportunities. However, sometimes we just want to avoid this.
In thinking about this, I continue to wonder how such problems are addressed. I suppose something should probably be written into our policy, defining what is unacceptable, and what to do when faced with a challenge. What is our stance? It would be easier to defend my practice if it were backed by policy approved by the school board. I'm just not exactly sure how to go about this. Samples? Suggestions?
References:
Jenkinson, D. (2002). Selection and censorship: It’s simple arithmetic. School libraries in Canada, 2(4), 22
Johnson, D. (2010) Censorship by omission. Library Media Connection, Vol. 28(4), 48-49
Moody, K. (2005). Covert censorship in libraries: A discussion paper. Australian Library Journal, 54(2), 138-147. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/alj/54.2/full.text/moody.html
