Kathleen de la Peña McCook writes: “They must not look at the Progressive Librarians Guild or ALA SRRT!
“mousy and sensibly dressed bookworms rather than
activists and people of political consequence….”
“Freedom of Speech…Just Watch What You Say.”
…….Stupid White Men was ultimately released, but not
because the publishing house felt remorse for curtailing
Moore’s freedom of speech. Rather, during the back and
forth, Moore mustered the nationwide support of librarian
organizations that got wind of the censorship, were
immediately incensed, and reacted with threats of their own
to HarperCollins. The term “librarians” often captures
images of mousy and sensibly dressed bookworms rather than
activists and people of political consequence. But, contrary
to this stereotype, librarians have considerable clout with
publishers as, through their book orders for library
systems, they are responsible for a significant share of
publisher revenues. Weighing the costs of censoring Moore’s
pre-9/11 critique of government against the costs of
alienating the librarian community, apparently HarperCollins
saw it fit to acquiesce. Thus, by default, Moore’s freedom
of speech was eventually recognized.–
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