You know what really gets my goat?

[alexiscartwheel]

Banning library books. I am very strongly against all forms of censorship, to the point that I was essentially told to "think of the children" in a class discussion. In library school. Yes, information can be dangerous. Isn't that great?

I first read about Sarah Palin’s censorship attempts in Wasilla in Time last night, but I was waiting for at least a second source to pop up before I really got outraged about it.

From The New York Times:

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”

Our constitution upholds the right to freedom of expression, and that includes ideas that you may disagree with or may find offensive. Dissent is one of the things that makes this country great, but all too often people feel that it'd be easier if we got rid of all those controversial opinions. Libraries should have materials on a variety of subjects and expressing a variety of viewpoints, and librarians should never feel that their livelihood is at stake if they try to prevent censorship.

I think it’s really sad that this mentality is still considered acceptable in the US to the extent that a serious candidate for federal office can condone--and even promote--censorship. And firing a librarian for refusing to ban books from a public library is a horrible abuse of power.

By the way: Banned Books Week is coming up! Come the end of the month, be prepared to break out your Judy Blume!

Comments

[nochenne.livejournal.com]

Absolutely agree! Censorship is never, never okay. It's one thing, for example, for parents to decide their child isn't mature enough for a particular book. It's quite another for my government to tell me I can't read something because they object to it.

Also, reason #90588 why Sarah Palin should not even get close to the Oval Office.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I agree, if parents are concerned about books that there children read, they should pay attention to what books they are checking out. If they're worried about a particular book (or movie or CD) they should read (or watch or listen to it) first. I remember that's what my mom did when I wanted to buy an Alanis Morissette tape. (Ahh! Cassettes. And of course these days I think that album would have a parental advisory label.) But just because you don't want your own kids reading something, or don't want to read it yourself, doesn't mean it shouldn't be available to others.

[sagacious-c.livejournal.com]

I'm so horrified by her policies and approach to things I actually started crying today. (There were multiple reasons for my freak out, but I'm deeply disturbed by this campaign development...)

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Ugh... I know how you feel. I've banned myself from all news sites for the rest of the night, and the TV is most definitely staying off. Stuff like this makes it scary to contemplate four years of McCain and Palin. There's plenty to be upset about, this just happened to be my OH NO YOU DIDN'T moment. :/

[sagacious-c.livejournal.com]

I'm banned from the TV, too. For some reason, McCain on his own didn't SCARE me, but the combined ticket really truly does. :(

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

And really, Palin by herself isn't that scary either. I think what's really scary is that by selecting her, McCain is aligning himself further and further to the right, and he's showing that he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if that's not really in the best interest of the country.

[sagacious-c.livejournal.com]

Exactly. :( I seriously cannot cope with another administration even slightly similar to the current one, and by going farther right I'm scared that's what he's doing.

[kit-the-brave.livejournal.com]

Everything I hear about her gets worse and worse, but I never expected this! Oh, this is awful.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I know! Most of her policies are pretty typical of the far right, and though I disagree strongly with many of them, they're at least predictable. This actually came as a shock!

[tsukara.livejournal.com]

You know what gripes my ass? (Sorry, you got me in a West Wing mode...)

You got told to "think of the children" in library schoool? *disapprove* Too bad real life doesn't seem to be about the level of fandom debate half the time in this country. *sigh*

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

West Wing mood is good. West Wing is happy thoughts.

And yes, that really happened. lib_chick42 was there. *points below* There was some people in the program who were really not all that intelligent. Several people, I think, ending up regarding me as a heartless bitch cause I said that if a teenager asked me for a book about suicide I would absolutely not try to find them psychological help. And then someone accosted me during the break to talk more, when I really just wanted to go to Tim Horton's.

I get fired up about this stuff though. I love a class debate.

[lib-chick42.livejournal.com]

I don't get much info about the McCain/Palin ticket up here, but the little that I have heard about them scares me, and I don't even have a say in the end.

And I remember that group discussion... I couldn't believe it either, the "think of the children" comment... wtf? Isn't that what we were doing?

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Scary is right! (Cause the right is scary, har har.) I already disagreed with McCain on pretty much everything, then he nominated Palin, who is crazy conservative, which moves the ticket even farther right. And they're basically running on biography. McCain was a POW and Palin has five children, one of them disabled, and they both LOVE America. It is un-patriotic not to vote for them.

You know, I've probably got a STFU covered sheet of notes from that day. Yeah, I think that the children should have responsible parents who should pay attention to what they're reading.