Karl Sandwell-Weiss sends “Another viewpoint on libraries and book selection. from WorldNet Daily as Banned Books Week begins.
Writes Linda Harvey:
Setting aside any danger that the government might ban valuable materials, which is not happening in any community in America, let’s strip away the spin and look at the facts. The supposed dangers are essentially phony. For there are several methods to “ban” a book from a school or library: someone can ask that something already in the library be removed, or, valuable books can be banned from consideration before they ever reach the shelves. This is the dirty little secret behind the bluster and outrage of Banned Books Week: private, library-initiated censorship is a routine practice throughout America.
The library she used
Thanks for the link. She is using “my” public library as her example. I hadn’t researched that particular topic, but as Tomeboy pointed out recently, the most serious book banning is done in the collection development area before the books ever get to the shelves. ALA’s book banning hoopla is just that.
It has always (by always I mean the last 38 years) been difficult to find Christian books in the UAPL, although occult books are well represented on the new book shelf. Years ago I inquired about this oddity, considering the ratio of Christians to Witches in the community and was told it was the churches’ responsibility to provide specialized material to their members. Interestingly, they didn’t feel that way about cookbooks and crafts–and maintain a lovely, varied collection.
And last year’s election certainly showed an imbalance on the non-fiction shelves with all the anti-Bush books, even though the community is heavily Republican.