Comments on: Banned Book Bullshit https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/ the neverending reference interview of life Mon, 04 Jan 2016 05:14:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Banned Books Blues 2015 | Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-18835 Wed, 30 Sep 2015 04:20:48 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-18835 […] Banned Book Bullshit (2009) […]

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By: Banned Books Bollocks 2013 | Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-10856 Tue, 24 Sep 2013 03:11:29 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-10856 […] Banned Book Week posts: 2009, 2010, 2011, […]

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By: Banned Books Bullshit, Year 4 « Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-7588 Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:36:16 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-7588 […] installments of Banned Book Bullshit: 2009, 2010, 2011. Share this with others:DiggEmailPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to like […]

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By: Banned Book Bullshit, Revisited « Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-5377 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:03:20 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-5377 […] post is somewhat related to my previous blog entry, Banned Book Bullshit, that I wrote back in 2009. At least, I feel this entry is a good companion piece. -A] Share this […]

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By: Banned Book Week 2010 « Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-1957 Sat, 25 Sep 2010 02:16:16 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-1957 […] any rate, I was re-reading what I wrote last year at this time, an entry entitled “Banned Book Bullshit”. Oddly enough, even with the difference of a year’s experience, I stand by what I wrote. I […]

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By: A Mighty Wind « Agnostic, Maybe https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-197 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:52:04 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-197 […] in this country; I concede that there are people who wish to remove materials from the library (as written about in a previous post); and I will concede that there are (especially this year) many libraries that suffer from funding […]

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By: Andy https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-194 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:00:51 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-194 I would not say that it isn’t a big deal; any restriction on library material is a big deal. For the staff, it creates something they have to treat differently (e.g. shelve in a different location from other books of its type). I think it is more of a matter of someone else putting restrictions upon us. As in, we are limited enough by budgets, we really don’t need additional restrictions on what we can and cannot collect.

I welcome book challenges because I think that open debate illuminates underlying rationales. It separates the subjective rationales from the objective ones. This is not to say that all subjective rationales are invalid, but just because a book offends a particular personal sensibility does not give reason to move or remove it.

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By: Erin (@librarymafia) https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-193 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:30:43 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-193 Finally checked out your blog and so interesting that you would have posted about this — just wrote about it in an MLIS paper.

The Annoyed Librarian had a post up about this lately as well. I happen to agree with you — I think ALA et al are making a big self-serving fuss about something that is essentially not a big deal. No one would say that a book that happens to be not available in one particular library is “banned” — even within our libraries, no one expects any one library location to have EVERYTHING. That’s why we have ILL. And “collection development policies” will exclude things more often than customer complaints.

I actually think patrons should be allowed to challenge books — isn’t that part of the free speech we’re supposed to be all fired up about? Especially because in 6 out of 7 cases, those challenges DID NOT result in books being removed.

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By: Andy https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-192 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:31:35 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-192 Thank you for your thoughtful comment.

(1) I guess market alternatives are not the happiest solution that people would embrace past the public library. I see it as a ‘next best thing’ solution as the material is not simply limited. Yes, this does restrict access for gay teens, but I would hope that a gay advocacy group could step in and cover the difference. It is not from a lack of trying that book is not kept within easy access.

(2) Perhaps “through the roof” is a bit of an overstatement. But they certainly sold more than they would have without the controversy. It is pretty relative as well; if the book had sold 10 copies, then had a challenge, and sold 10 more copies, that would be an increase of 100%. If it sells more than it would have ordinarily, then it’s a win in my book.

I’m not concerned about library self-censorship as a whole. As an organization with a finite amount of resources, decisions must be made as to what to include or exclude. Under these parameters, I don’t think any librarian would escape criticism as to their choices of materials to add to the collection.

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By: Michael https://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-191 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:49:16 +0000 http://agnosticmaybe.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/banned-book-bullshit/#comment-191 I can’t completely agree.

1) The fact that a book is still available misses the point. Practically no books are truly “banned” in today’s commercial marketplace. But libraries are places for free access of information, and banning a book there does indeed keep it out of people’s hands–I’m thinking here primarily of books for gay teens.

2) Yes, banning fusses often give a book publicity and sales, but “through the roof” is overstating it. Of the books on the banned books banner you show, some are “hits” with huge sales (Carrie, Light in the Attic, American Psycho) and some are time-tested classics, but many, maybe even most of them, have never hit a best seller chart.

I’m a little surprised you didn’t bring up the issue of library self-censorship, in the form of selection (and necesary passing over) of books, but I guess that’s a whole other blog post.

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