Banned Books: GLBTQ issues and Censorship Paper

Culture Wars regarding GLBTQ issues: Another Reason to Ban Books in America

I chose to explore a topic which has been and will continue to be an issue in our school and public libraries. Books are censored from school and public libraries for many different reasons and the ALA has a website which breaks down the instances of these challenges and the reasons given for them.[1]  The issue that I chose to focus on for this presentation and paper is homosexuality, particularly in children’s and YA literature. Those who oppose representations of homosexuality in children’s books are trying to guard their children against what they see as harmful influences. If we, as librarians allow those citizens to affect the materials that we select and choose to house in our libraries, we are censoring material that some patrons might find helpful.  As librarians, we have a responsibility to serve every member of our community, keeping in mind those communities who have been traditionally underserved.[2]

The Avoidance of controversy is the cause of most instances of censorship in libraries, often done by librarians themselves. As one of my group members, Karl, covered in his portion of the presentation, most books are censored in the collection development stage in libraries; that is, they never have a chance to be acquired for the library. It is understandable, for library professionals to be afraid of controversy, as it must be a scary situation to find yourself in.[3] Many library professionals assume that they do not have any GLBTQ citizens coming into their libraries because these citizens remain silent and do not ask for information. This is a mistake; libraries must provide ideas and information across the spectrum of social and political views.[4] Libraries also have an obligation under the Library Bill of Rights to disseminate information representing all points of view on the topic of gay rights.[5]

My group member, Alison, covered in our presentation, some of the main reasons why books are banned or challenged and what the differences between these two terms are.[6] Although book challenges happen and they are scary for professionals, making children’s and young adult books inclusive for all children is also important to their development. [7] Many teenagers, whether they are GLBTQ themselves or have family members who are, seek out “positive and realistic portrayals of GLBTQ characters in fiction” and these resources in libraries, openly available to these teens, helps to “reduce feelings of isolation and despair.”[8] The American Library Association (ALA), Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) and American Association for School Libraries (AASL) are all places where library professionals, facing challenges to materials in their libraries can turn to.

There are a few organizations which actively attempt to censor and help others censor materials in libraries; the FFL is just one of them. The FFL (Family Friendly Libraries) is a national organization which started in Virginia and really began to take off in 1996.[9] This organization was established to fight internet pornography and age-inappropriate materials in local school and public libraries. The FFL now helps to rally people in all 50 states.[10] They call for parental access to children’s borrowing records (which would be a violation of ALA policy on confidentiality), restricting children’s access to what they call “anti-family” books while increasing the holdings of what they deem to be “pro-family” works. The FFL represents people with concerns who try to get librarians to either remove titles or accept restrictive acquisition-and-access guidelines.[11] For example, with books like Daddy’s Roommate (1990) and Heather Has Two Mommies (1989), the FFL would expect that if a library did collect these books, those dealing with children from GLBT households, that it could acquire them, but it could not allow children to read them and this library would be asked by the FFL to “balance” these new acquisitions with titles such as “you don’t have to be gay,” or books like it that treat homosexuality as a curable psychological disorder.[12]

The result of these complaints by the FFL and others like them who try to censor materials in public and school libraries is that, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the American Library Association (ALA) began drafting documents like the one that the class was asked to review before the presentation, from which this paper was born. Although documents like the Library Bill of Rights have been drafted and updated to protect libraries since the 1930’s, school and public librarians felt the need to draft more documents which cover specifics, like library acquisition policies.[13]

Another book, for younger children is a delightful one called, And Tango makes Three. Published in 2005, it is a young children’s book based on a true story of two male chinstrap penguins that adopt a baby penguin and raise it together as a family. It has been one of the most challenged books in libraries since 2006.[14] Because so many of these books, which are available, are not acquired by libraries for one reason or another, or are being constantly censored and therefore may be hard to find in some communities, websites are a wonderful alternative for families seeking information and entertainment with is truly “family-friendly.”

Unfortunately many of the issues with censorship that we face now are not only in the paper books that we read but also on the internet.[15] Publisher, Laura Matanah, started rainbow Rumpus, the world’s first online magazine for LGBT families.  This is the world’s only online magazine for children and youth with LGBT families. The website gives all families access to positive materials, such as free printable books, blogs book reviews and comics. Started by Ms. Matanah after she realized that families like hers were not being represented often in books or online.[16] Ms. Matanah’s daughter saw a photo in the Human Rights Campaign magazine Equality and said “Look mommy! Two moms and twins just like us!”[17] This online resource gives information to GLBTQ families all over the world. Unfortunately, internet filtering can block access to informational websites like Rainbow Rumpus in some school and public libraries. Often the filtering software looks for keywords like, “gay, lesbian and homosexual,” and blocks access to any websites containing these words, equating them with pornographic or shameful sites, which also serves as a negative example for children.[18]

In book selection, it is important not to assume that there are only heterosexual parented families in your community or even that those families would not value books with diverse stories and characters. It is also important not to avoid choosing certain titles because you want to avoid controversy. There is really no way to avoid controversy and by trying, you are actively taking part in another type of censorship, self-censorship. Both the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) here in Madison and the ALA’s website provides useful information for librarians in what to do if a book in challenged.[19] It is important for librarians to know their rights and responsibilities and to have places to turn to if they are facing a challenge.

Works Cited:

ALA.” Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.”http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm (accessed on December 12, 2010).

ALA.” Resolution on Threats to Library Materials Related to Sex, Gender Identity, or Sexual Orientation.” http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ifresolutions/threats.cfm (accessed December 12, 2010)

ALA. “Challenges by Reason.” http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengesbytype/index.cfm (accessed December 13, 2010)

ALA. “ About Banned and Challenged Books.” http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks/index.cfm (accessed December 18, 2010)

Alexander, Linda B. and Miselis, Sarah D. “Barriers to GLBTQ Collection Development and Strategies for Overcoming Them.” Young Adult Library Services vol. 5 no. 3 (Spring 2007): 43-49.

Boyer, P.S. (2002). Purity in print: book censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age. Print culture history in modern America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Chamberlain, Katherine. September 30, 2010, “Spotlight on Censorship—And Tango Makes Three,” The Office for Intellectual Freedom Blog, http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=1541 (accessed December 12, 2010).

FFL. “Guidelines for Working With Local Public Library Boards.” http://www.fflibraries.org/recommendations_public_library.html (accessed on December 12, 2010).

Rainbow Rumpus. “Our History and Mission.” http://www.rainbowrumpus.org/about/history (accessed December 12, 2010).

Rowell, Elizabeth H. Missing: Picture Books Reflecting Gay and Lesbian Families. Young Children vol. 62, issue. 3, May 2007: 24-30

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[1] ALA, http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengesbytype/index.cfm (accessed December 13, 2010)

[2] Linda B. Alexander and Sarah D. Miselis, “Barriers to GLBTQ Collection Development and Strategies for Overcoming Them.” Young Adult Library Services vol. 5 no. 3 (Spring 2007): 43. The authors refer here to GLBTQ teens as an underserved library community. I dare to extend this “underserved” label to GLBTQ families, which is the community I have focused on for this paper.

[3] Ibid.: 43.

[4]ALA,http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm (accessed on December 12, 2010).

[5]ALA http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ifresolutions/threats.cfm (accessed December 12, 2010).

[6] ALA, http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks/index.cfm (accessed December 18, 2010). According to the ALA’s web page, “About Banned and Challenged Books,” often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom: 1.) the material was considered to be “sexually explicit”; 2.) the material contained “offensive language”; 3.) the material was “unsuited to any age group.”

[7] Elizabeth H. Rowell, “Missing: Picture Books Reflecting Gay and Lesbian Families.” Young Children vol. 62, issue. 3 (May 2007): 24

[8] Linda B. Alexander and Sarah D. Miselis, “Barriers to GLBTQ Collection Development and Strategies for Overcoming Them.” Young Adult Library Services, Spring 2007: 45.

[9] P.S. Boyer, Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age. Print Culture History in Modern America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press (2002): 326. The FFL was established by a woman named Karen Jo Gounaud in 1992 in Fairfax County, Virginia, the organization  really began to take off in 1996.

[10] FFL, http://www.fflibraries.org/recommendations_public_library.html (accessed December 12, 2010). This website provides those who wish to censor library materials with guidelines and suggestions for affecting library policy.

[11] P.S. Boyer, Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age. Print Culture History in Modern America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press (2002): 326.

[12] Ibid.: 326.

[13] There are several other groups such as PABBIS (Parents Against Bad Books in Schools), also based in Virginia which have similar goals in providing resources for citizens who wish to see a book or other material removed from a school library. Here in Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee, the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries has been attempting to ban public library materials and fight the ALA and their Bill of Rights. These organizations are active online.

[14] Katherine Chamberlain, September 30, 2010, “Spotlight on Censorship—And Tango Makes Three,” The Office for Intellectual Freedom Blog, http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=1541 (accessed December 12, 2010).

[15] Since our group project was based around school libraries and the banning on books, in particular, I wanted to mostly stay away from the subject of internet filtering because I didn’t want to throw off my group member’s presentations or make it seem like we had missed something, when in actuality, I think we covered our bases rather well considering we were taking on such a huge subject.

[16] Taken from a personal telephone interview with Laura Matanah by the author, Jessica Miesner, on December 2, 2010.

[17] http://www.rainbowrumpus.org/about/history (accessed December 12, 2010).

[18] Linda B. Alexander and Sarah D. Miselis, “Barriers to GLBTQ Collection Development and Strategies for Overcoming Them.” Young Adult Library Services, Spring 2007: 45. This article provides many useful resources and examples of instances of discrimination and how it might adversely effect children.

[19]http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm (accessed on December 12, 2010). The website states that in the event that a material is challenged in a library, a response for a librarian is “The library has a responsibility to serve all taxpayers, including those you may not agree with—or who may not agree with you. We believe parents know what’s best for their children, and each parent is responsible for supervising his or her child. You can control what your children are exposed to simply by going with them to visit the library or supervising what they bring home.  Maegan covered many of these resources in her portion of the presentation.  

Urban Public Libraries and Big Box

Urban Public Libraries
Readings:
The example of the Near North branch in the article that we read is an unusual case, I would assume. To move the new, expensive library into an area in between an upper class white neighborhood and a lower-middle class predominantly African-American one is probably a rarity. Once this branch did move in, the other improvements that followed, such as new middle to upper class buildings that went up in the neighborhood where lower-income housing used to be, displaced the local population that had visited the library before these other neighborhood improvements. So, as we can see in this article, the good experiments, like the Near North branch turn out the same as many of the other urban branches who move into the rich area and do not open the lower and middle-class patrons. New, complex, beautiful and sometimes ridiculous buildings in urban areas of our cities try to build up an area but mostly fail to reach or cater to, all of the patrons in the area. I believe that this was a good reading to do to show the plusses of urban libraries when these libraries are run by a functioning and even thriving city public library system, like the Chicago Public Library. The article mentions the downside of moving a new urban library into a lower to middle class neighborhood (or actually on the edge of it). It does not dwell long in this negative atmosphere but chooses to venture into more positive aspects of the community programs of the Chicago Public Library as a large city system.

I do dislike at the end of the article, on page 11 of the text, how they refer to the musical programs for the community as offering "serious" music to the young people of that community. Sounds a bit to me like promoting the "right" reading. I also was a bit distracted by the mega-typos in the article. But I still feel that this was a pretty good article to choose for us to read before the presentation because it gets into the gentrification issues a little while still choosing to promote a positive view of the new branch in Chicago. I would have liked to see another article which got into some of the bad parts of these new urban library projects. Fortunately, the presentation sections provided some good and well-rounded oversight of the issues involved.

Presentation of material and ideas:
The presentation of the idea of gentrification and homelessness were looked at in much more depth by our classmates who did a fantastic job. The gentrification that happens when libraries move expensive new buildings into neighborhoods that are suffering financially, is an area that needed to be covered and it was, beautifully. It was all good, every member did a good job but for me personally, Laura's discussion of problems and programs for the homeless in public libraries, is one of the most interesting issues with building new, expensive buildings in urban areas of our cities. Especially in large urban settings, the homeless and "street people" make up a large part of the patron population and we need to think about their needs when we build programs for our new libraries and improve them in the old buildings. This was a very good presentation.

Big Box
Readings:
The New York Times article talks about how books in these new bookstore inspired public libraries place their books in sections, like "neighborhoods," similar to a Borders or Barnes and Noble like bookstore. I personally find this annoying, but I like to know precisely where my item is going to be, and with Dewey classification, you have most of the related books on your subject, or Author placed in a collated fashion, so that it is easy to find on the shelf next to the item that you may have looked up in the catalog with a call number. I personally, would like to see bookstores classify their materials like libraries, but I certainly wouldn't force that idea.

I certainly like browsing, in bookstores and in public libraries but I want the option of finding the material right away, first try that a Dewey classified library can give me and bookstore can't. I like Dewey and so I do not agree with Mr. Courtright on this one.

I think we run the risk here of making our libraries too social and too comfortable and pushing out those patrons who come to study, not to hear someone talking on their cell-phone about the drunken escapades they may have had the night before. I don't want my library to be like my bus in that way! I know that a comfortable library is nice and I want my library comfortable but we need to ensure that studying happens there as a number one priority. I pretty much disagree with this article and it makes me even more interested in libraries and what makes them special and different and a place that I would be much more likely to inhabit for the day than a damn chain-store. The parts of the article where Coffman decides to put forth the idea that we could get away with paying our librarians a barely-livable wage if we wanted to be modern and posh, infuriate me.
Maybe we are really talking about the differences between a capitalist bookstore model-fake, pushy and fluffy; and a socialist library model-real, respectful and solid. Rachel's final comments were particulary nice, we have to be prepared to state to people why we, as librarians are important and worth the extra money. We care, we are not just in it to get extra Christmas spending money. We care about our patrons, not their money.


 Presentation of materials and ideas:
I really enjoyed Elizabeth's use of the pictures and concentration on libraries in our city of Madison, before and after renovations. Since I am brand new to Madison, this was a very enjoyable and informative approach.
I also really enjoyed Tomissa's presentation and how she went into the College Library cafe, here at UW-Madison and how the books are shelved, sort of in "neighborhoods," like the NYTimes article refers to.
The mention of storytime and how it differs in libraries and in bookstores was also really powerful.
I like the idea of keeping the libraries open for more hours, like Barnes and Noble and other such stores are open until 11pm, where most public libraries are only open until 9pm.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about this one,
One of my favorite things about being in a library as opposed to a bookstore: being left the hell alone!-JM

Electonic Book Readers and One City-One Book: inspiring MEANINGFUL conversations

Electonic Book Readers


My feedback after reading the document Electronic Book Readers:
The reading provided me with a good basic overview of the history of these devices, I didn't realize how long they had been around.  I love that it uses less power while also being easier on the eye: one of the many wonders of this new technology. The way I think of the "lag" in refresh time is that I don't friggin care! It is a great new technology with the crazy little balls and I would not complain if one of these were to fall into my lap this Christmas. Unfortunately, I am forever poor and so is my family and I don't see me or my husband actively using one of these unless they were more like 30$ a pop. But that is just us, what I once thought was a stupid waste of money, after the reading that we were assigned and the wonderful presentation, I find incredibly cool and worthwhile. I will be watching this new technology with anticipation of a cheaper or free option for someone like me. The article provided a lot of information to think about, both for personal use and for this new devices use in public libraries. It gave me, as a beginner in this new digital world, good insight into the different types of e-books and technologies and what may come in the future. It was well written and, most importantly for our purposes, very well presented.

Presentation of materials and ideas:

So, the electronic book reader...well, I might never be at a point in my life where I feel that I need or even want one, but the presentation given by my classmates, at least in part, made me want to see other people use them. They don't seem so frivolous when I think about how much they may help people who have issues, physically reading a book. Although it is also covered in the article, our classmate did a really good job of explaining how people with disabilities might utilize the electronic voice reading options. I thought that this was the part of the group presentation which made me wake up and really get into the idea of uses for these new devices.

Oh, and by the way, E-ink is incredibly cool and I am so thankful that Justine provided us with insight into how this all works and how it is different from the normal backlit devices that I am used to (or getting used to).
The group spent sufficient time talking about DRM, which of course I had no idea about until doing this reading. The DVD player-breaking analogy was very useful for those like me. Hell, even a "last VCR on the planet" analogy would have worked for me.

One City-One Book: inspiring MEANINGFUL conversations

My thoughts on the readings:

Inspiring great and meaningful conversations in any city is hard to do, especially with the choice of one book per year. Through a public library system in one city, trying to promote one book alone is a hard choice and almost certainly has to echo the diversity of that particular city. I feel that this is a great way to engage people since many people who do have the time to read for pleasure, might come into a library and thing, "so many choices." If there is an option to read a book that is being promoted, has been properly reviewed by people who know "good books," this serves as a great option for those who only have time to dig into one book (like those of us who are in classes for years and years).

It's interesting that the ALA provides a CD for purchase called one book,one community resource guide with poster templates and all of that included for libraries prepared to do a program.
It's nice that the ALA is so involved on the one hand, but I also find it kind of disheartening that publishers and writers may be kissing up to libraries to get their names and titles on one of ALA's booklists for community reads. That reminds me a bit of the ALA's first published selection books for libraries which ignored many controversial and important books. But, still I like the fact that libraries are trying to bring people together to discuss and get excited about reading books again.

Presentation of materials and idea:

The group who presented did a fantastic job in capturing most of the positive and negative arguments for these types of programs. I really liked the fact that they included the idea that this is not just an expansion of the "book club" idea but instead, it is meant to engage all branches of a city's library system, as well as cultural organizations, and bookstores. I really thought that the flyer of the presentation was an excellent idea as well, as it helped to solidify the main points and give us something to contemplate after the presentation.

The Warhol Foundation fights back!

The Warhol Foundation is fighting back against the censorship at the National Portait Gallery of David Wojnarowicz's work. I am glad someone has the power and authority to do this.

Now, another artist has asked for his work to be removed from the exhibition. Artist AA Bronson, whose work "Felix, June 5, 1994,"

Ruth Brown Blog

Ruth Brown: Why was her story so important?

The reason why Ruth Browns story is so special, as Louise Robbins states in the beginning of her book, is because even though the story seems to be about communist ideas, it centers around the breaking down of racist policies in libraries in American life. Ruth Brown was not targeted and fired because the library board in Bartlesville thought that she was a communist. The communist approach to her attack was a convenient excuse in a time when America was experiencing mass hysteria of sorts in the name of the "red scare." The battle against communism was convenient to use as an excuse because it was a battle being fought even at the highest levels of government. No, the library board and citizens who fought against Ruth Brown were fighting to keep their own ideas of a segregated society in place. These officials and citizens alike, thought that Ruth Brown represented a new and scary "other" and this is why she was targeted.

Ruth Brown was a threat to citizens because she wasn't shy and timid, like most librarians were seen to be (the stereotypical librarians that we have talked about in class since the first week of readings). She felt that she had little or nothing to lose, she was near retirement, had no children except for the two girls that she raised to maturity after their parents died and adopted as her own. These two girls were now raised and grown and had moved on. She saw herself as having no dependents. To the citizens of Bartlesville who wanted her removed, Ruth Brown was a very big threat.

In a way, the fight against censorship, communism, and equal rights for African-American citizens in the South, go hand-in-hand. They coincide at this time and Ruth Brown is a prime example of things that were most likely happening all over the country to peole in different ways.

People like Ruth Brown presented a threat to others comfortable and secure ways of life and thinking and to the values that they were comfortable with. People are reluctant to change their morals and THIS is the real fight presented in these pages. Seeing how far this fear can go to ruin lives and careers, when our local State and federal govt's do not take a stand against them, this causes real fear.

The communist rhetoric of yesterday is continued in the socialist rhetoric of today. This is the true reason why I found this book so interesting and powerful. Louise Robbins did a fantastic job researching these topics. Being from the area, I think she had a much better understanding than most of the underlying and unspoken fears of the public and how they must have played into the controversy in Bartlesville. Robbins did a beautiful job presenting this story in a bigger context than what may have been in the memories of those involved.