Censorship in the Public Library

Censorship is the “banning of a work or deletion of aspects of a work that are considered undesirable” (ALIA, 2006, p.1). ALIA believes in the principle that all people should have free access to all information (Moody, 2005). However, CILIP (in Taylor, 2013) states that access should only be restricted if it contravenes the law. In Australia, libraries aren’t legally allowed to censor their collection but they are required to follow the law. The Classification Act 1995 classifies computer images as film (ACT Parliamentary Counsel, 2013). Libraries must therefore limit public access to certain images online or be held liable (ALIA). This protects minors and other vulnerable customers from exposure to harmful material.

 Censorship in libraries may happen unconsciously in the selection and weeding of materials for the collection (Moody, 2005). Library staff must be aware of their personal bias and how this influences the collection. Censorship may also happen in the labelling of books. Many public libraries label their collection to help customers find books for their specific reading level. However, this may lead these readers to select or refuse material by their label instead of their content (Hunt, 2012). Publishers also label children’s books according to their intended age range. This ‘age banding’ may also be considered a form of censorship (Warren, 2012).

My interview with a Youth Services Librarian found that Hume Libraries do not ban any books. She believes that banning books wouldn’t prevent children accessing this material but may in fact encourage them to look for it instead. Hume Libraries believe so strongly in the principal of unrestricted access to information that in the past they have had a ‘Banned Books’ display of books that have previously been banned in Australia. Staff were intrigued by customers’ responses to certain books that had been banned.

Hume Libraries label their collection by age groups. The youth fiction classifications are Picture Books, Junior Fiction and Teen Fiction. Teen fiction is recommended for ages 13 and above. However, staff have had difficulty in selecting where to place certain series of novels. Their usual policy is to position novels using the age of the main character in the novel as their guide. With series where the character grows older in each novel they have had difficulty deciding where to place the whole series.

Until recently, Hume Libraries have labelled their fiction collection by genres. ‘Genrefication’ involved placing pictures of specific genres on the spines of novels. Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender and Queer (GLBTQ) genres were acknowledged with a rainbow spine label. Their reasoning was that teens may be reluctant to express their need for this material and would be able to access it independently. Rauch (2011) states that GLBTQ teens have a higher depression and suicide rate and this may be due to unfulfilled information needs. Novels can help teens in their identity forming and make them feel less alienated from society (Rauch). However, there has been concern at Hume Libraries that these spine labels may be too obvious and could be used against these teens if recognised by homophobic people. Hume Libraries has decided to discontinue usage of spine labels and are thinking of introducing GLBTQ booklists instead.

Image Attribution:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67499195@N00/3343954254

References

ACT Parliamentary Counsel. (2013). Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games)         (Enforcement) Act 1995. Retrieved from http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/1995-47/current/pdf/1995- 47.pdf 

ALIA. (2006). Censorship and Libraries. Quill, 106(4).

Hunt, L., & Wachsmann, M. (2012). Does labelling children’s books constitute censorship? Reference and User Services Quarterly, 52(2), 90+.

Moody, K. E. (2005) Covert censorship in libraries: a discussion paper. Australian Library Journal, 54(2), pp. 138-147.

Rauch, E. W. (2011). GLBTQ collections are for every library serving teens! Teacher Librarian, 39(1), 13.

Taylor, K. (2013). Censorship challenges to books in Scottish public libraries. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. 45(2), 153-167.

Warren, C. (2012). Age banding and its impact on children and their reading. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 44(2), 129-136.