Censorship

Every month, the newest issue of School Library Journal lands on my desk. One of my favourite columns is “Scales on Censorship” by Pat Scales, a former chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. In each issue, librarians write-in telling of their censorship challenges from co-workers, supervisors, caregivers or Boards, and Scales provides words of wisdom and guidance. When I read this column, I often have visions of the book burning scene in the movie Footloose, and I find myself wondering how censorship remains such a prevalent issue.

In Canada we have a Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure access to all forms of knowledge and creativity, and the freedom to express our own opinions. The Canadian Library Association has a Position Statement on Intellectual Freedom outlining the responsibilities of libraries to maintain access to the widest variety of materials, even if society deems them “unacceptable.” Collingwood Public Library has adopted this statement, and also has a policy on Collection Development to ensure a balanced collection is purchased and maintained without biases. Although there are no guarantees, patrons are able to submit a Re-evaluation of Library Materials form, detailing the reasons they feel a title should be removed from our collection.

Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of the top ten frequently challenged books. You can see the 2014 list here – Collingwood Public Library holds nine of the titles on the list. The most frequent objections are offensive language, violence, sexual content, and being unsuitable for the intended audience.  Between 2000 and 2009, 5,099 challenges were reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, demonstrating that the attempt to censor is very much alive and well. In fact, challenges are so frequent that, in America, Banned Book Week is taking place from September 27 to October 3, 2015. In Canada, we have the same event running from February 21 to 27, 2016, called Freedom to Read Week. Libraries and bookstores across the nation celebrate our freedom to read by displaying banned books and hosting events to promote awareness.

Despite legislature and documents ensuring our intellectual freedom, censorship remains a sensitive issue, and raises many questions, the most important of which is who has the authority to make censorship decisions? In a public library, trained librarians decide what ends up on the shelves, but it is up to patrons and caregivers to decide for themselves and their children what is appropriate.

                                                                                                                           

--Ashley Kulchycki