September 23, 2009
I am an avid reader. I suppose I come by it honestly. I mean, I am an academic, a professor. And my mother was a librarian – in a one-room library where she thought her job was to read all the books in the collection to us children.
So, books have been and are an important part of my life. Anything that smacks of books being on the endangered list, or “threatened,” or “banned” never sits right with me. But it goes beyond just a personal “issue.” It should be an issue for us all, as was explained to me recently by Joe Dahlstrom, senior director of libraries for The Victoria College/UHV Library. Here is a note from him about banned books and an upcoming event you might want to attend:
“To Kill a Mockingbird” … “Of Mice and Men” … “Harry Potter.” What do these books have in common? They have been challenged, and people have requested that these books be removed from library collections or class reading lists, or have their access restricted. The freedom to read what we choose and have materials in libraries that represent a wide array of topics and points of view are freedoms we have long enjoyed in this country. These freedoms are grounded in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which guarantees the freedoms of speech, religion and the press.
Censorship, however, is an ongoing threat to these freedoms. Each year, there are many requests to remove books from library shelves and school reading lists. Reasons for requesting the removal of a book are varied but include racism, profanity, sex, violence, alternative lifestyles, and the age-appropriateness of materials. There were 520 book challenges reported in 2008, and this probably represents only a fraction of the total number of actual challenges. Many of these books have been challenged in multiple locations across the country and appear on the Banned Books List many different years.
Each year during the last week of September, libraries across the country celebrate our First Amendment rights and intellectual freedom by observing Banned Books Week. This year, the VC/UHV Library will celebrate Banned Books Week with a Read-Out. From 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, we will have short readings from several of the books on the Banned Books List and a short presentation by Lawrence Rossow, dean of the UHV School of Education & Human Development. This will be on the first floor of the VC/UHV Library, and we encourage everyone to attend. Coffee and cookies will be served.
So, I say, see you there. Mother would expect nothing less of me, anyway.
Comments
Anonymous thewaywardwind says...
When I was in high school many, many years ago, there was a mini-scandal involving a concerned parent and the school library. This father learned that the library had a book on the shelf with a rather suggestive title and he wanted it removed to protect not only his kid but all the kids in the school. He raised the issue at a PTA meeting one evening and was quite adament that dirty books had no place in the library of a public school. When he learned that "A Night to Remember" was about the night in 1912 when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank with over a thousand lives lost, he was more than a little humiliated. Couldn't have happend to a more deserving guy.
Posted 23 September 2009, 9:47 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous BorgLord says...
Banning books is small minded, ignorant and just WRONG--which is why Nazis, Communists and moralist nut-jobs--moralism is a sub-genre of totalitarianism--are ALWAYS in favor of it and, it seems, constantly lobbying for it--with of course a burn pile involved as well.
Posted 23 September 2009, 11:27 a.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous zorro says...
Is there ever a book that crosses the line and deserves to be banned? I kind of have to gag to swallow that The Turner Diaries should be kept in the library.
Posted 23 September 2009, 12:43 p.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous roberttx says...
people should be banned, not books
Posted 23 September 2009, 1:19 p.m. Suggest removal
Anonymous BorgLord says...
The Turner Diaries--yeah they ARE garbage--but ban it, that just makes it more desirable--look at every movie, book, album, video game etc that has been banned, boycotted or protested--all the moralistic prude squads ever do is give the purveyors of such rancid tripe FREE publicity. You can eliminate the garbage much more effectively by ignoring it--not having a church lady fainting fit over it.
Posted 23 September 2009, 3:49 p.m. Suggest removal
Jose Diaz joseexist says...
Being an avid reader as well, I can totally identify with Mr. Hudson and Mr. Dahlstrom on this event and their views concerning the banning of select literature. To have an observance for banned books speaks volumes for who we are and who we strive to be in this country. We have the freedoms in place to entertain those articles of education (books) that we have been denied the privledge of perusing. That act alone demonstrates that we can still give respect to and maintain civility towards those who have offended us in some way and against whom we have struck a blow in defense of our moral and ethical standards.
I may not be able to attend the event but as for what it represents, my heart will be there.
Aye! May the speech here forever be free!
Posted 24 September 2009, 8:09 a.m. Suggest removal