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Censorship, American Style

post #1 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
This woman is a complete failure as a librarian. She can claim that she wants to protect the children all she wants, but when she challenged the book and lost, and then pulled this shit, she deserved to be fired.

Of course, since the wife and I want to move back to KY to be closer to the grandparents, all I can think is, "Sweet, job opening!" I'd have no problem pimping out graphic novels for the kids.
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post #2 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:41pm
Really, really, REALLY important distinction to be made here - that woman was not a librarian. Based on what I've read about this, she was a circulation clerk, I think. No Master's degree required. Which, if we want to break it down, means that she decided that her ill-educated perspective on what the people of her community should be reading was of more worth than the professional decision of the librarians she worked with (read: the people who selected the book for inclusion in the collection in the first place).

As such, I think the MLISs at that library are entitled to one free noogie apiece. Afterward, a rep from the ALA can step up and smack her with a copy of the Library Bill of Rights. And then we can all have cake.
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post #3 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:43pm
Technically, as the article states, she isn't a librarian.

Still, fascinating article. Interesting how libraries have to cope with this issue in conservative areas.

Edited to add: Zooey types faster than me. :-(
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post #4 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:45pm
How can she even claim that she wants to protect the children? They aren't her children to protect. If the book in question isn't in violation of any kind of law or library policy, she can either get over it or she can hit the bricks.
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post #5 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 
Oops, must have missed that part (all the headlines I've seen make her out to be a librarian... which makes it much worse). In that case, she's not a failure as a librarian, just a failure as an employee, and as a person.

Guess I'm back on the job hunt.
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post #6 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:46pm
This time it's trying to keep an 11-year old girl from checking out a graphic novel with explicit content in it. Next time, it's because they don't want people reading Darwin. This kind of shit needs to be stamped on, now and hard. Let it slide in one instance and you only strengthen them to do it whenever they want.

EDIT: So if the problem was that this book was in the Graphic Novel section, which is right next to the Young Adult section, wouldn't a more rational solution be to move one of those sections? No, let's check the book out indefinitely, then invade the privacy of someone who wants to read it.
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post #7 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:47pm
Ha, they even look like they think they know best.
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post #8 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:51pm
Stuff like this is a perennial problem in libraryland and, for what it's worth, it rarely starts with the librarians. The patrons or paraprofessional employees are often at the center of foolishness like this. As long as you keep educated, ethical professionals on the job to catch people out and explain to the community the value of making a multiplicity of viewpoints publicly available, mindless censorship will never get vary far.
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post #9 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:52pm
Wait until that uptight gaggle of hausfraus sees what Alan Moore looks like.
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post #10 of 31
11/19/09 at 3:57pm
Quote:
"People prayed over me while I was reading it because I did not want those images in my head," she says.
Lost Girls would have called for an exorcism.

The only reason they singled this book out is because its obscenity is in the pictures. The books in the library that contain far worse would actually require them to read.
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post #11 of 31
11/19/09 at 4:31pm
And it's Volume THREE, dammit. Actually, technically it's not volume anything, it's an appendix to the main series.

Comics always get fucked in the ass this way, in a manner that books typically don't. I guess because you can flip it open and point to something horrible and say "THIS IS WHAT OUR CHILDREN IS READING!!11!!"

This is why, in the long run, it's extremely important that comics be recognized as a legitimate art form. Though the surest defense against censorship is popularity.
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post #12 of 31
11/19/09 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
As such, I think the MLISs at that library are...
Mom Librarians I'd Like to...See?
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post #13 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Happenin View Post
Mom Librarians I'd Like to...See?
If you're honestly curious, Masters of Library and Information Science.
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post #14 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bendrix View Post
If you're honestly curious, Masters of Library and Information Science.
I always say "Studies" instead of "Science." Because it's not a science. And I'm like that.
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post #15 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
I always say "Studies" instead of "Science." Because it's not a science. And I'm like that.
She's right, of course. I just went by what's printed on my degree.
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post #16 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:21pm
Eh, it's on mine, too. A bit of leftover weirdness from the early 20th century mania for making everything "scientific." See also - Home Economics, which, really, if you think about it MEANS NOTHING.
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post #17 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Got mine in 2008 and we were the first at UA to have "Studies" instead of "Sciences."
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post #18 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:26pm
Huzzah!

I'd go check mine to confirm... If I knew where it was.

And, Jesus, how many librarians do we have around these parts? DaveB, Bendrix, Anakin's Dad, me...
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post #19 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
And, Jesus, how many librarians do we have around these parts? DaveB, Bendrix, Anakin's Dad, me...
Too many?

*Damnit. I've now come under the eyes of the Eternal Librarian League*
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post #20 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:29pm
Yeah, and we just let nooj off the hook. So we've got some time on our hands.
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post #21 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HBarr View Post
*Damnit. I've now come under the eyes of the Eternal Librarian League*
The Evil Librarian League:
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post #22 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:32pm
What do Alan Moore and shitty comedian Ron White have in common?
Here's the latest:
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/b...e-in-kentucky/
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post #23 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:33pm
In my defense, I'm a numbers guy. Statistically speaking, it seems like a large number of librarians to Chewers ratio (I mean, in RL how many people are there to a librarian in your county).....


Ha! That'll confound them for a bit!
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post #24 of 31
11/19/09 at 5:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HBarr View Post
In my defense, I'm a numbers guy. Statistically speaking, it seems like a large number of librarians to Chewers ratio (I mean, in RL how many people are there to a librarian in your county).....


Ha! That'll confound them for a bit!
Judging from what Anakin has said in posts about his job search and my own current job status, plus the fact that DaveB's still in school, the active librarian-to-Chewer ratio isn't all that staggering.
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post #25 of 31
11/19/09 at 6:01pm
Well, and I'm certainly not the best case as I spend much of my working day doing dick all, but...coooooooooome on, you guys are at a library. What else are you going to do besides go on CHUD all day?...read or some shit?

:: Runs away and hides from the eternal burning death stare of Miss Zooey ::
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post #26 of 31
11/19/09 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
And, Jesus, how many librarians do we have around these parts? DaveB, Bendrix, Anakin's Dad, me...
Not me, but my wife. And her ex-husband. And her brother. And his wife. All of whom are branch managers or directors now.
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post #27 of 31
11/22/09 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
Yeah, and we just let nooj off the hook. So we've got some time on our hands.
I'm ambivalent about being off the hook. The hook was my home...
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post #28 of 31
11/22/09 at 9:38pm
There's a degree for library science? Not that I don't think it's a valid degree, I'm just wondering if the college classes are full of people who look like this.
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post #29 of 31
11/22/09 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
There's a degree for library science? Not that I don't think it's a valid degree, I'm just wondering if the college classes are full of people who look like this.
welp
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post #30 of 31
11/22/09 at 10:17pm
Greg. Abort. Abort. Do NOT attract the notice of the Eternal Librarian League.
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post #31 of 31
11/22/09 at 10:29pm
*cough*
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