{"id":19834,"date":"2020-03-01T23:44:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T23:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19834"},"modified":"2020-03-03T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T13:45:53","slug":"librarians-could-be-jailed-and-fined-under-a-proposed-censorship-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/librarians-could-be-jailed-and-fined-under-a-proposed-censorship-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Librarians could be jailed and fined under a proposed censorship law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nicole Cooke<\/a>, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A bill pending in Missouri\u2019s legislature takes aim at libraries and librarians who are making \u201cage-inappropriate sexual material<\/a>\u201d available to children.<\/p>\n

The measure, championed by Ben Baker<\/a>, a Republican lawmaker, calls for establishing review boards who would determine whether materials in libraries contain or promote \u201cnudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse.\u201d In addition, the boards, which would be comprised of parents, would root out materials lacking \u201cserious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Librarians who defy the review boards by buying and lending such materials would be subject to misdemeanor charges, fines upward of US$500, and a potential jail sentence up to one year.<\/p>\n

As a librarian, and now as an educator who teaches aspiring librarians<\/a>, I see this bill as the latest chapter in a long history of books being banned<\/a> from public and school libraries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Censorship and book banning<\/h2>\n

Often, efforts to censor and muzzle libraries originate with members of the public rather than public officials or school leaders.<\/p>\n

Censoring and banning library materials and programs is nothing new<\/a>. Many classic books have been challenged and banned<\/a>, including classroom favorites like \u201c1984<\/a>\u201d by George Orwell, \u201cThe Catcher in the Rye<\/a>\u201d by J. D. Salinger, \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird<\/a>\u201d by Harper Lee, \u201cThe Color Purple<\/a>\u201d by Alice Walker, and \u201cI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings<\/a>\u201d by Maya Angelou.<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s book \u201cAnd Tango Makes Three<\/a>,\u201d by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole, was challenged and banned<\/a> from libraries around the country for many years after its publication in 2005. The picture book is based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City\u2019s Central Park Zoo who adopt and care for an egg and then keep caring for their daughter, Tango, after she hatched.<\/p>\n

J.K. Rowling\u2019s Harry Potter series<\/a> is also regularly challenged and banned.<\/p>\n

Separately, opponents of the storytime program known as \u201cDrag Queen Story Hour<\/a>\u201d at libraries and other community venues, have held protests to ban and condemn such events aimed at children. The objections voiced by protesters<\/a> stem from their belief that drag performers are evil and amoral and that exposure to drag queens will, in their view, cause children to become gay.<\/p>\n

The Missouri bill is not the first of its kind. State lawmakers in Colorado<\/a> and Maine<\/a> both tried to pass similar legislation in 2019. Both efforts failed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The drag queens who read to kids in libraries are attracting protesters.<\/span>
\nDavid McNew\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A profession<\/h2>\n

American Library Association\u2019s Office of Intellectual Freedom<\/a>, the Missouri Library Association<\/a>, and
\nPEN America<\/a> \u2013 a nonprofit that defends free expression \u2013 are among the literary and library groups that have voiced their objections.<\/p>\n

Many of the drag queens<\/a> who read to kids<\/a> are planning a protest against the measure on March 7. Baker has said his concerns about these readings were a factor in inspiring him to draft the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Librarians are professionals. Librarians working in K-12 school libraries also earn certification as school library media specialists<\/a>. Librarians have expertise in children\u2019s literature, collection development, child development, psychology, readers\u2019 advisory, reference services and other specialized skills needed to serve children<\/a> and young adults<\/a> in a variety of settings.<\/p>\n

In short, librarians are more than capable of selecting and purchasing quality books and other materials for people of all ages.<\/p>\n

To imply otherwise, as I believe the proposed Missouri measure would, is to insult these skilled educators. If it should be enacted, I would consider it a potential threat to information access, intellectual freedom and the freedom to read.<\/p>\n

[Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.<\/em> Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a>.]\"The<\/p>\n

Nicole Cooke<\/a>, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicole Cooke, University of South Carolina A bill pending in Missouri\u2019s legislature takes aim at libraries and librarians who are making \u201cage-inappropriate sexual material\u201d available to children. The measure, championed by Ben Baker, a Republican lawmaker, calls for establishing review boards who would determine whether materials in libraries contain or promote \u201cnudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":19835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[3673,7736,1996,7737,7739,4580,1626,2197,7738,3466],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19839,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19834\/revisions\/19839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}