From American Libraries: Milwaukee-area citizen Robert C. Braun of the Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) distributed at the meeting copies of a claim for damages he and three other plaintiffs filed April 28 with the city; the complainants seek the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the library’s copy of Baby Be-Bop. The claim also demands $120,000 in compensatory damages ($30,000 per plaintiff) for being exposed to the book in a library display, and the resignation of West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss for “allow[ing] this book to be viewed by the public.”

While we watch the story unfold in Wisconsin, what can we do?

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Get in on the ground floor of something interesting!

As you may have heard, YALSA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee will be transitioning into an Interest Group.   This means that anyone interested can sign up to participate, and conference attendance is not mandatory.   All you need is a passion for intellectual freedom and the First Amendment!

 The transformation will be complete by 2010.  We need at least 15 interested YALSA members to send their information right away, so we may submit a formal petition in June.  (more…)

Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, was recently banned from production in a La Grande, OR high school, because parents objected to it’s adult content.  The play is about an imagined meeting between Picasso and Einstein in Paris.  ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom reports that over 420 books were challenged in 2007 (this is the most recent data available).   If only every book could have a celebrity in it’s corner, writing a letter to the editor in the community newspaper, as Steve Martin did.
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• To serve as a liaison between the YALSA and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee and all other groups within the Association concerned with intellectual freedom.
• To advise the YALSA on matters pertaining to the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution and the ALA Library Bill of Rights and their implications to library service to young adults and to make recommendations to the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee for changes in policy on issues involving library service to young adults.
• To prepare and gather materials which will advise the young adult librarian of available services and support for resisting local pressure and community action designed to impair the rights of young adult users.
• To assume responsibility for the continuing education of young adult librarians regarding intellectual freedom.

As a YALSA Intellectual Freedom Committee member, I have my choice of a smorgasbord of Intellectual Freedom meetings and activities to attend at Conference.  However by far, the best part of my trip to Midwinter was attending the Freedom to Read Foundation’s Fourth Annual Author Event featuring Lauren Myracle.

Lauren specifically addressed the banning and challenging of her books.  She spoke about how she could empathize with parents who find her books objectionable.   Because the world is truly a scary place,  protecting your children is a priority.   (more…)

One of my esteemed IF Committee colleagues touched on this point a couple of posts back, but I find a need to bring it up again. There have been a couple of intellectual freedom related issues that have cropped up in my library and community as of late; The debates were centered around two books: Elizabeth Scott’s ‘Living Dead Girl’ and Susanna Kaysen’s ‘Girl, Interrupted’ and their suitability for a teen audience. This has had me pondering the meaning of the word “appropriate” and the way it sometimes gets tossed about in our line of work. (more…)

Neil Gaiman responding to a question on why defending free speech you don’t like is necessary  made me realize how important it is to remind ourselves as young adult librarians to push our comfort levels when buying potentially controversial materials.  In thinking about graphic novels, I wonder if larger systems with three different sections of GN might be more willing to start something in YA knowing they can always move to A if needed.  10 years ago when it was harder to find enough Children’s GN to fill up a shelf, there was more danger of having Tintin next to Watchman, but now it seems easier. (more…)

Reading news items and YALSA-Bk listserv postings during this past month, I noticed two recurring intellectual freedom themes…determining the suitability/appropriateness of materials for teens and balancing that suitability/appropriateness within the current definition of YA literature. “Appropriateness” concerns have been raised recently about a whole gamut of materials from DVD TV movies (Freedom Song) to manga titles (Alice 19 and Treasure), popular fiction (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Succession), and L. Ron Hubbard audio books. Most of the postings asked for guidance in evaluating these titles for suitability for a YA audience.

It struck me that we librarians depend more and more on the opinions of blog and listserv posters and less on our own familiarity with the material in question. Are we in danger of basing our decisions on incomplete information then? Do we prefer postings because we don’t have enough time to read, view, and/or listen to new acquisitions or to become more familiar with our collections? Is it because we fear challenges and it’s simply easier, this way, to avoid them? (more…)

Taffey Anderson, the Oregon woman who had been refusing to return The Book of Bunny Suicides to her 13 year old son’s school library, has returned the book and softened her stance after the story provoked several negative editorials and blog posts. Anderson spoke to the American Libraries, telling them that the book was returned on October 24^th. She was quoted as saying “I was talking completely out of anger,” and “I did apologize in the newspaper and should never have said that, but I don’t think it’s a book for school-age children.”

This is a great reminder that how we deal with an initial challenge can make a difference in the outcome. It can be tempting to dismiss challenges without really listening to the person’s real concern. Staying calm and courteous and practicing active listening can sometimes prevent a concern from becoming a public challenge. ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom offers a helpful guide to dealing with challenges. We all hope we never find ourselves in that situation but in case we do, it is important to be prepared.

It’s not too late to celebrate Banned Books Week with teens at your library!   Here are some ideas to get teens thinking and talking about banned books:

1. Create your own banned books booklist, or order the ALA Banned Books List 07-08.  Display these booklists near your reference desk and encourage discussion.  One classic exchange I had with a teen went like this: a teen approached the desk and casually glanced over at our Banned Books Week list.  She asked, “What’s a banned book?”  I explained.  The teen’s face crinkled up and she asked, incredulously, “If people don’t like the books, why don’t they just not read them?”  Great question!  Off-the-cuff discussions at our reference desk, with both teens and their parents, have been the most rewarding way for me to inform patrons about banned books.  You might also tuck these booklists into the challenged books that are sitting on your shelves, to create awareness among those teens who are hesitant to approach staff.

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