Censorship or Selection? Academic Library Holdings Of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2007
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/el.v33i2.292Abstract
Academic libraries often serve as the protectors of challenged books. Pressure on public libraries to remove controversial works can and often does result in the restriction of access or removal of the work from those libraries shelves. Academic libraries, however, operate with a stronger sense of academic and intellectual freedom. To analyze how well academic libraries do in acquiring and making available books which appear on the American Library Association‘s Challenged Books list, the list for 2007 was analyzed in WorldCat to determine the number and overall percentage of academic libraries holding the titles. Overall, 29.94% of the libraries holding challenged books were academic libraries.References
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In September of 2006, Vol. LV, No. 5, it was reported that the library of the University of the Incarnate Word, a private Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas, was reinstating its subscription to the New York Times. The subscription had been ordered cancelled by the Dean of Library Services who objected to the Times reporting on a secret government program to monitor international banking transactions. Accessed July 13, 2008. URL: https://members.ala.org/nif/v55n5/success_stories.html#sanantonio
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Ibid, p. 176.
Ibid, p. 176-177.
Ibid, p. 185,
Asheim, Lester. ―Not Censorship but Selection.‖ Wilson Library Bulletin 28 (September 1953) p. 6. Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Cain, Charlene C. ―Intellectual Freedom in Academic Libraries.‖ Louisiana Libraries 68(3) 2006; p. 29.
Asheim, Lester. ―Not Censorship but Selection.‖ Wilson Library Bulletin 28 (September 1953) p. 6. Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Ibid; Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Ibid; Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Ibid; Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Asheim, Lester. ―Not Censorship but Selection.‖ Wilson Library Bulletin 28 (September 1953) p. 6. Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
Ibid; Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/notcensorship.cfm. Accessed June 30th, 2008.
DeVinney, Gemma. ―Academic Librarians and Academic Freedom in the United States.‖ Libri 36 (March 1986) p. 30; and ―Tenure in Libraries‖ ALA Bulletin 40 (November 1946) ;. 451 (see reference 39).
See ―A Guideline for the Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure of Academic Librarians: Approved at ALA Annual Conference, June 2005.‖ College & Research Libraries News 66 (9) 2005; pp. 668-676.
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Education Libraries, Volume 33, Number 2, Winter 2010
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Hirsch, Elaine Gass. ―You have kids‘ books?!‖ Promoting children‘s literature in an academic library.‖ Education Libraries: Children’s Resources, 31(3) Spring, 2008; p 13.
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Original publication dates for the titles are: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884); And Tango Makes Three (2005); The Chocolate War (1985); The Color Purple (1982); The Golden Compass (1995); I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (1969); It‘s Perfectly Normal (1994); Olive‘s Ocean (2003); The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999); and TTYL (2004);
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Ibid; p. 2.
Ibid; p. 3.
Nivola, Pietro S. and Brady, David W. Red and Blue Nation? : Consequences and Correction of America‘s Polarized Politics. Stanford University : Hoover Institution on War, Revolution & Peace, 2008; pp. 127-148.
Gastner, M. T.; Shalizi, C.R., and Newman, Michael J. ―Maps and Cartograms of the 2004 Presidential Election.‖ University of Michigan, 2004. Website available at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2004/. Accessed January 6th, 2010.
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Strothmann, Molly and Van Fleet, Connie. ―Books that Inspire, Books that Offend.‖ Reference & User Services Quarterly 49(2) (2009) p. 165.
Ibid, p. 165.
Berman, Sanford. ―Inside Censorship.‖ Progressive Librarian 18 (2001); p. 49.
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