A Democratic Society and the Issue of Censorship

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.“

Intellectual Freedom

“Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.” -- ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom

Intellectual Freedom: the basis for a democratic society

Challenged . . . Restricted . . . Banned!

Banning Books

• Restricts First Amendment rights

• Suppresses opinions, questions, and exposure to new thoughts and practices

Challenging Books

• Does not restrict First Amendment rights

• Invites questions, discussions, learning, exposure of issues and problems, raises awareness, and stirs various viewpoints

If it’s my right, how can it be challenged?

Policies:

Collection Development

and Reconsideration

Who Challenges Books?

• Administrators• Board Members• Clergy / Religious Groups• Parents• Teachers• Students• Library Patrons• Elected Officials• Organizations• Community

Reasons for Book Challenges

Ready?

#1 Challenged Book in 2012!

• Captain Underpants• by Dav Pilkey

“ . . . they demonstrate the value of questioning authority”

– Dav Pilkey, author

Controversy!

"Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike."

Aren’t There Some Kinds Of Expression That Really Should Be Censored?

More recent challenges

A “very dangerous” book

• 2006: #1• 2007: #1• 2008: #1• 2009: #2• 2010: #1• 2011: no reports• 2012: #5

BANNED!

Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2012

#1

Captain Underpants (series)by Dav Pilkey

#2

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indianby Sherman Alexieart by Ellen Forney

#3

Thirteen Reasons Whyby Jay Asher

#4

Fifty Shades of Greyby E L James

#5

And Tango Makes Threeby Justin Richardson and Peter ParnellIllustrated by Henry Cole

#6

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

#7

Looking for Alaskaby John Green

#8Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz

#9The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

#10Beloved by Toni Morrison

Censorship Timeline . . .

• 1450: Johannes Gutenberg invents printing press

• 1490: Germany's first official censorship office established when local

archbishop pleads with town officials to censor "dangerous publications"

• 1490 - 1529: Henry VIII of England establishes a licensing system requiring

printers to submit all manuscripts to Church of England for

approval

• 1529: Henry VIII outlaws all imported publications

• 1535: French King Francis I prohibits the printing of books

• 1559 - 1966: Roman Catholic Church issues the first

published list of forbidden books,

Index Librorum Prohibitorum

• 1650: First book burning in America – a religious pamphlet was confiscated

by Puritan authorities in Massachusetts, condemned by the General

Court, and burned by the public executioner in the Boston

marketplace.

• 1873: “Morals, not art and literature” Anthony Comstock convinces

Congress “Comstock Act,” banning the mailing of “lewd, indecent,

filthy or obscene” materials

• 1874 - 1915: Comstock’s reign as special agent of the US Post Office

• 1920s: Nationally publicized court battles over censored books begin to

erode the Comstock law.

• 1982: Island Trees School District v. Pico declared that the First

Amendment limits the power of school officials to remove books

from school libraries because of their content.

Book burnings: Nazi Germany

Closer than you think!

At what temperature does paper burn?

Banned Classics

• To Kill a Mocking Bird “a filthy, filthy book”

• Grapes of Wrath “inappropriate sexual references”

• Catcher in the Rye “obscene” and “excessive vulgar language”

• The Color Purple “sexual and social explicitness”

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn “trash suitable only for the slums”

• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl “sexually offensive”

• The Bell Jar “about suicide”

• Call of the Wild “too radical”

• Lord of the Flies “excessive violence and bad language”

“Without our constant support, the First Amendment freedoms that we so often take for granted – the right to read, explore ideas, and express ourselves freely – are at risk.” – Robert P. Doyle

Why we read . . .

Reading develops:

• a better understanding of yourself

• a larger view of the world

• empathy

Books are POWERFUL!

connect peoplesoothe lonelinessreveal injustices

More information?http://libguides.ccac.edu/bannedbooks2013

Visit our Banned Books library displayand guide.

What do you think?