censorship and the role of the librarian

I think a lot about intellectual freedom and access to information when it comes to tweens. This age group is in need of information about all kinds of topics, and today's tweens are growing up during this great age of information. My general viewpoint is, information is good. Guidance about how to interpret information is also good. While I'm not always as gung-ho as my colleagues about information access ("sure kids, look at porn on the library computer!"), it seems to me that a librarian is not in the position to arbitrarily limit tweens' (or anyone's) access to library materials. Right? Right.

Apparantly, a librarian did just that recently, and it's causing an uproar. According to School Library Journal, the library director of the Burlington Country Library System in Burlington, NJ has issued a directive that all copies of Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology (Alyson, 2000) be removed from circulation. The librarian did this despite no formal challenge being raised, and cited child pornography as the reason for the removal of the book. The book in question has earned praise from School Library Journal as well as GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network). It is unclear exactly what prompted the librarian to order the book's removal, but her decision was upheld by the Library System's Board of Commissioners.

It's hard to tell from the outside, but this seems like a pretty outrageous and egregious exercise of power. It also reminds me of the enormous power librarians possess as gatekeepers of information, and the restraint with which that power needs to be exercised. Certainly, if a book is genuinely pornographic, that I say, get it out of the library.* But it's hard to believe that whoever works in collections development is choosing pornographic titles for the library. Also disturbing is the lack of a clear challenge to this book. There might be occasions where it is truly appropriate to remove a book that is inappropriate or offensive, based on concerns raised by the community.* But in the absence of a clearly documented challenge process, the whole situation winds up feeling fishy to me, especially given the "controversial" nature of this book. The irony, of course, is that there may be tweens out there who desperately need exactly this book, and it's a shame for their information access to be muddled in this way.

*cue the ALA and their pitchforks...

Barack, L. (2010, July 27). NJ library, citing child pornography, removes GLBT book. School Library Journal, Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/886066-312/nj_library_citing_child_pornography.html.csp

UPDATE: Not such a random act by this librarian after all. The facists religious right put her up to it.