A Fresh Look at the Library Bill of Rights - Part VIII
Exploring the Issues of Selection and Censorship
Taken from the Spring 1998
NCompass
In this latest installment of the NCompass series examining applications
of intellectual freedom and the Library Bill of Rights, we explore the
issues of selection and censorship.
Recently the estate of Lester Asheim was settled, resulting in a sizable
gift to a library school. Asheim was the nearly legendary library educator
(at one point Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate Library School),
a prolific writer, and leader in the field in every good sense. His passing
was less noted than it should have been, perhaps the result of a long life
and extended retirement, the fast-changing world of librarianship, and
maybe some forgetfulness on our part.
In his life Asheim wrote a number of seminal articles, one of which
comes to mind as Congress considers yet another attempt to 'filter' information
coming across the Internet. He wrote, "Not Censorship But Selection" in
the September 1953 Wilson Library Bulletin. (Think about what else was
going on in Washington, D.C. that year.) While the examples he uses to
bolster his positions are now dated (e.g., James Joyce's Ulysses), the
arguments are as fresh as ever, perhaps because attempts at censorship
never end. The article contains very dense writing, reflecting
Asheim's
style, as well as the time in which it was written. The article is rich
with ideas and a brief review of it can only touch on a few of the author's
major points.
The primary idea of the article is that selection can be identified
(as apart from censorship) by virtue of the fact that it is a 'positive'
rather than a 'negative.' Some of the quotes are priceless:
"When librarians discuss the matter [censorship] among themselves, they
are quite satisfied with the distinction between censorship and selection,
and are in smug agreement that the librarian practices the latter, not
the former."
"The real question of censorship versus selection arises when the librarian,
exercising his own judgment, decides against a book which has every legal
right to representation on his shelves."
"When a book attacks a basic belief or a way of life to which we are
emotionally attached, its purpose will seem to us to be vicious rather
than constructive; dangerous rather than valuable; deserving of suppression
rather than of wide-spread dissemination."
"The major characteristic which makes for the all-important difference
seems to me to be this: that the selector's approach is positive, while
that of the censor is negative. . . . For to the selector, the important
thing is to find reasons to keep the book. . . . For the censor, on the
other hand, the important thing is to find reasons to reject the book.
. . . The positive selector asks what the reaction of a rational intelligent
adult would be to the content of the work; the censor fears for the results
on the weak, the warped, and the irrational."
"The inevitable consequence of the negative approach is that it leads
to the use of isolated parts rather than the complete whole upon which
to base a judgment. . . . In other words, four letters have outweighed
five hundred pages."
"But many librarians have been known to defer to anticipated pressures,
and to avoid facing issues by suppressing possible issue-making causes."
"Finally, the selector begins, ideally, with a presumption in favor
of liberty of thought; the censor does not. The aim of the selector is
to promote reading, not to inhibit it; to multiply the points of view which
will find expression, not limit them."
"Selection, then, begins with a presumption in favor of liberty of thought;
censorship, with a presumption in favor of thought control. . . . Selection
seeks to protect the right of the reader to read; censorship seeks to protect
. . . not the right . . . but the reader himself from the fancied
effects of his reading. The selector has faith in the intelligence of the
reader; the censor has faith only in his own."
"In other words, selection is democratic while censorship is authoritarian."
For more information see the Library Commission home page,
search on "freedom". Full text of the Nebraska Intellectual Freedom Handbook
[obsolete link removed] is also available.
Planning is underway for a program for the October NLA Conference in
Grand Island. Richard Miller, Library Commission Library Development Director
and Ted Smith, Norfolk Public Library Director share the following preliminary
plans:
Program Title: "Censorship vs.. Selection: Stand by Your Stand!" Brief
Program Description: "The speakers will explain their stances on the issues
of censorship and selection, and will explore the concept of responsibility
as it relates to these library processes. The goal of the session is to
build a bridge, rather than to stake out divergent camps."