Banned or Unselected?

The American Library Association insists that parents and other citizens attempt to “ban books” while librarians are trained to “select books.” In other words, there’s a subtle difference between me as a citizen petitioning the library to NOT spend my tax money on a book that I believe to be useless or pernicious and Molly Librarian (something I was once upon a time) deciding that a book is useless or pernicious and not buying it for the library collection.

I agree that the difference is subtle, and I even agree that there’s a difference. The citizen petition is made in public, usually discussed and debated in public, and and a decision is made about the material in question. Usually (about 90 percent of the time) the decision goes against the citizen request. The librarian’s decision, however, to buy or not to buy a particular book is made in private and usually is unquestioned. Good libraries have a selection policy, but it ‘s usually written in such general terms that it can be interpreted to defend or to deny just about anything that may be challenged or requested. The general idea is that we should just trust the professionals to be unbiased and fair about these things and not worry our pretty little heads. Well, I did just a little bit of research and came up with some evidence of bias and unfairness that looks compelling to me.

I said that I wouldn’t write anything else about Banned Books Week, but I just can’t resist. This idea from Focus on the Family is too good not to pass along. Click on the previous sentence to get details, but basically the idea is for you, as a citizen to donate books to your local library that “offer contrasting, alternative perspectives and that reflect your family’s viewpoint.” There’s a sample Book Donation Comparison Chart that gives some ideas of what to donate specifically on the subject of homosexuality. It’s set up so that you can compare what books your library already has to a list of comparable books that express an opposing viewpoint.

I checked the two side-by-side lists against the catalog for my entire library system, a huge library system (Harris County/Houston). Guess what? I’m not really surprised that my entire library system carries every one of the books on the left, pro-homosexual rights side of the list, and it carries exactly ONE copy of ONE of the books in the right hand column, books written from a Christian conservative viewpoint. I then looked under the subject heading “gay marriage.” (Maybe the library system has other books from a Christian/traditional marriage point of view, books that are not on the FOTF list.) Except for the one book already noted, all sixty-two of the titles listed in the catalog were titles favoring the concept and the legalization of “gay marriage.” Oh, one other book on the list was a tome called Same Sex Marriage: Pro and Con, edited by Andrew Sullivan. I haven’t read it to see how unbiased it is, but Mr. Sullivan is a well known advocate of the legitimization of gay marriage.

So, as far as I can tell, my entire library system has ONE book that presents the case for a traditional definition of marriage and more than fifty books and other media, in multiple copies, that present the case for a re-definition of marriage.

Exactly whose books are being “banned” here and by whom?

4 thoughts on “Banned or Unselected?

  1. You have written a very thought-provoking post. And the last sentence expresses my sentiments as well. I have to say that I am actually not so surprised about what you found out while comparing the books in your library system. I also do not believe that parents have as much power as we are made to believe. It’s all relative and always depends on how the facts are presented. If one ‘scandalous’ case of wanting to ban certain books by a parent is highlighted in the media and none of the actions of actual librarians are, then of course we will all concentrate on the parent because that’s all we know.
    Thanks for the post.

  2. Well, I felt like I was wandering in the wilderness and found the one person whose view on BBW I agree with.

    Really, can’t you just shut up, pay your taxes and let the people that know better, the ALA, make decisions for you? This democracy thing is so bothersome when you can’t get the common folk to agree with the enlightened point of view..lol

    As I wrote in a comment on another post here, I considered writing a post about it myself, but I wimped out. I just could not take all the hostility it would generate.

  3. I found two books arguing for traditional marriage in my library system, and dozens instructing homosexuals on gay marriage ceremonies, legal guides, parenting, etc. So sad.

  4. Ideally, a librarian should be aware of all the different needs and interests of her community and should buy accordingly, making sure all are represented.

    In reality? Ahem. I will merely say that I am not a member of ALA firstly because I’m not a joining kind of person, and secondly because I disagree with mainy of their activities. I’ll just add that when I was at library school a large group of students started their own library association – because ALA was too conservative.

    Now, as I said earlier, I am not in favor of tailoring the library collection to any one specific group – whether it’s a group I agree with or not. And I will add that many librarians, um, tone things down a little after they’ve been out of library school for a while and get used to the “real world”.

    At most libraries I’ve been at, there’s usually some system where patrons can request items. I wouldn’t recommend dumping a whole list into the request system though. Collection development runs on circulation stats as well as other more esoteric things and if a librarian does buy many or even some of the more conservative books and finds they don’t circ as well – well, depending on the library they’re probably gonna go. Don’t push for the library to buy a book you or your friends don’t intend to check out and read.

    Anyways. It’s a complex topic with lots of space for unpleasantness. I like this post on the subject by another librarian http://wordsworldandwings.blogspot.com/2009/10/lets-talk-about-books-lets-ban.html

    See what you think. And try talking to your librarian – they may not be as antagonistic as you think; they may just need to know there’s a polite, pleasant patron base interested in certain books and they’ll start showing up on shelves. While most of the publicity goes to conservative groups trying to pull books off the shelves, there’s plenty of pull in the other direction and librarians often get caught in between.

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