Somewhat breaking news
Dec. 3rd, 2004 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaThe American Library Association (ALA) comes out with a statement:
Also, I put up a little movie news at Short Attention Span Theater. What? A girl can't get her politic on all the time.
(CHICAGO) The following is a statement from American Library Association (ALA) President Carol Brey-Casiano:
"It is alarming and discouraging that Alabama state Representative Gerald Allen is proposing to ban books about lesbian and gay people from public libraries, schools and universities. Not only is the bill unworkable, it is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
"Libraries are for everyone - of all backgrounds and viewpoints - and provide a broad spectrum of materials from which to choose. This is what makes libraries the most democratic of institutions in this country.
"Every year, the American Library Association learns of hundreds of attempts to remove books from our public libraries and schools. Most of these books stay available because teachers, librarians and community members stand up for literature and the freedom to choose what to read and view. We trust that Alabama legislators will stand up to this latest attempt to censor our library collections."
Also, I put up a little movie news at Short Attention Span Theater. What? A girl can't get her politic on all the time.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 08:14 pm (UTC)collected over the years...
Date: 2004-12-03 08:16 pm (UTC)“We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.” — ALA Code of Ethics
“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” — Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
“We must teach students about their First Amendment rights rather than restrict their use of particular books and materials. As educators, we must encourage students to express their own opinions while respecting the views of others.” — Protect Our Freedom of Speech, Teach It?, Pat Scales
“Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove books from sale, to censor textbooks, to label ‘controversial’ books, to distribute lists of ‘objectionable’ books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as citizens devoted to the use of books and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating them, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.” — Freedom to Read Statement
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” — UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” — On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
Re: collected over the years...
Date: 2004-12-03 08:43 pm (UTC)"Our whole American way of life is a great war of ideas, and librarians are the arms dealers selling weapons to both sides."
James Quinn
(WESTPAC/NOCALL joint meeting, 1990)
Re: collected over the years...
Date: 2004-12-03 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 08:39 pm (UTC)*dusts of "I'm a librarian" button*
Thanks for posting this, it cannot be stressed enough how important libraries are.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:24 am (UTC)I was about to warn you to be careful with posting someone else's information like that--I believe it's a TOS violation--but then, he is an elected official; you're supposed to be able to contact him, after all. Personally, I'm not even concerning myself with Allen at this point; it's not like anything we say to *him* is going to make a difference. At this point, I'm more interested in talking to other representatives who are still reasonable.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 03:00 am (UTC)I think this is just one more of those attempts, and Rep.Allen doesn't have a snowball's chance of having his precious bill pass through.
Still, it's always good to keep people aware of every attempt of the sort. Kudos to you!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 08:45 am (UTC)Same thing happened at my school a few years back with a Mercedes Lackey book (of all things). The main character was gay, the Governors found out - demanded that the Librarian remove 'this flith which could contaminate our children's minds' (and that's a direct quote). When the Librarian refusd they did it anyway - shredding the book for effect. The Librarian quit in disgust.
It's not just an American thing.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 09:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 10:53 am (UTC)One thing that occured to me was that most of the ancient Greek classics, particularly Plato, make reference to homosexuality...I wonder how many people would be willing to ban that?
Brilliant job with your emails and such- keep it up! And wow, I love the ALA.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 10:54 am (UTC)P.S. This guy sounds like a complete moron, most folks who get elected can string together a sentence in response to a question, not this imbecile.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 10:59 am (UTC)(He did come off as singularly inarticulate in the al.com article, too.)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 11:39 am (UTC)Speaking of which, it was also painfully slow and mind-numbingly boring. Please do yourself a favor and save the $10 and three hours of your life kthnx.Hail to the ALA!
Date: 2004-12-04 11:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 07:45 pm (UTC)Yarha, Speaking in Quotes
"It tells me that goose-stepping
morons like yourself should try
reading books instead of burning
them."
-Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 11:32 pm (UTC)I fear that this is only the first of many such challenges we'll see in the next few years. Even against other problems with shrinking budgets, staff cutbacks, and no support from the librarian in the White House, librarians keep going.